Over 500 Christ Church Secondary students displaced by Thursday’s fire will take part in online classes until an appropriate facility can be found to house them.
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, along with senior officers of the Ministry of Education (MoE), yesterday met with the teachers and ancillary staff of the school to discuss the way forward following the devastating fire on Thursday afternoon.
The meeting was held at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Kingston.
Manickchand told Stabroek News afterwards that the students will be tutored online while she tries to find a place to accommodate them. She noted that as it relates to ancillary staff, no one is going to be without a job since the MoE is looking to get the students back to face to face schooling by Monday after next.
The blaze that started at about 5:15pm on Thursday left 502 students, 39 teachers and 9 ancillary staff displaced and had raised growing concerns about protection of schools and other government buildings in the aftermath of a spate of suspicious fires.
A release from the Ministry of Education on the meeting said that Manickchand stated that the List A school has performed well over the years and commended the teachers for their dedication to raising the standard of the institution. She further said that the decisions taken will have to be guided by what is in the best interest in the students enrolled.
The Education Minister said that the ideal preference would be to house all the students in one location.
The release said that during the meeting various options were explored for the placement of students and teachers however, there were no definite decisions made. Manickchand also said that the Ministry will have to meet with the parents and students to discuss the matter further. It was noted that the school’s enrollment records, which were saved as soft copies, will guide the process forward.
In the meantime, teachers were asked to engage their students online until a decision can be made.
Also present at the meeting was the Guyana Teachers’ Union President, Mark Lyte.
Stabroek News spoke to Collin October, 54, who said that he attended the school in the early 80s and the students there would always be in the lab experimenting, but nothing like a fire never happened. “This is really sad to hear that the building burnt down, we just have to pray to God to see what happen next.”
Lydia Henry whose two nieces, ages 24 and 28, attended the school expressed shock to see that it was burnt down. Henry said that both of her nieces did well at the school and they are working with the Government of Guyana.
“You just have to pray and hope the government rebuilds the building back because a lot of people attended the school”, she said.
