Dear Editor,
I would like to draw the government’s attention to the plight of school children in the Rupununi.
I am concerned that year after year school sports are held in the hottest month of the year. This year, for instance, there will be individual school sports, followed by inter-school sports, then inter-branch sports, all within three or four weeks. Almost every year children collapse from the heat-exhaustion while running and I doubt there is any medical personnel on hand to assist them.
Most troubling, however, is the fact many of these children can’t afford the school bus fare and have to walk long distances to the St Ignatius Secondary School in mud and rain or otherwise in extremely hot sun. On Thursday last, for instance, the outside temperature was 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius) when school was over. Children have told me of experiencing headaches and their inability to concentrate when they reach school. Then in the afternoon after they walk back home they are so tired they are unable to focus on their homework.
If it is true that children in other parts of the country do not have to pay on the school bus, why should Lethem children be treated differently? If the Lethem Town Council needs the revenue then the government should subsidize the running costs so that this service should be free for all children.
Yours faithfully,
Clairmont Lye