While highlighting a staff shortage, personnel at all 24 dormitories across Guyana pointed out during a UNICEF study last year that students at the facilities needed health and behavioural counselling.
The failure by the government to act on the findings has taken on greater importance following the May 21 fire at the Mahdia Secondary School girls dorm that claimed 20 lives.
Seventy-five per cent of the personnel canvassed at the dorms advocated that more attention was required for girls, the UNICEF report said. A girl at the Mahdia dorm has since been charged with 19 murders following the fire.
“The paramount effects on the female gender are health, loss of family connection, lack of activities that result in boredom and discomfort, lack or curtailment of privacy [in most dorm plants] and need for parental/guidance support. The effect of these deficiencies are more acute on girls than boys [generally]. There are limited frameworks in the dormitory administration system to attend to specific problems of either gender…” the report which presented data taken from administrators, educators, students and other stakeholders, states.
Of significance in the report was, “All the school dormitories have systematic and similar issues related to management system inadequacies, lack of resources and inadequate functional spaces, major shortage of staff and behavioural issues with students.”
The Education Ministry commissioned the report and it was funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with the High Commission of Canada in Guyana.
Completed and submitted to the MoE one year before the dorm fire tragedy at Mahdia, Region Eight which claimed the lives of 20 students, the report also recommended that there be a House Supervisor at all dorms and at least one dorm parent per 30-40 students.
At Mahdia, for example, there were 59 girls on roll, 16 from Chenapou, six from Karisparu, 33 from Micobie, 3 from El Paso, and 1 from Lethem.
Sources told the Stabroek News that there was no Dormitory Super-visor at the school, but there was a Dorm Mother who was a parent of one of the students at the school and who had volunteered to act temporarily in the post until a substantive Dorm Mother was appointed.
It is unclear how many boys were on roll but there was also a Dorm Father.
Overseeing appointments of the dorm parents, officials explained, falls under the direct remit of the Public Service Ministry but is facilitated by the respective Regional Executive Officers through their Regional Education Officers.
That substantially filling such a key position was not readily addressed, nor were the calls for workshops by staff, leaves to question why authorities who received the reports did not act on them.
Dormitory-style living has come to the fore and under heavy scrutiny following the tragedy at Mahdia.
Nonetheless, a source familiar with the UNICEF report and the challenges faced in implementation told Stabroek News that the difficulty lies at the Regional Democratic Councils.
“The ReDOs [Regional Education Officers] make recommendations but the REOs (Regional Executive Officers) don’t follow through… the regions are not taking these issues seriously and getting the Ministry of Finance to see the importance,” the source explained. In recent decades, REOs have been handpicked by the government. This trend continued when the PPP/C entered office in 2020.
It was noted that with the MoE facing the challenge of having the regions implement the recommendations from the report, it sought funding for the upgrading of five dormitories from their capital budget.
In the aftermath of the May 21 fire at Mahdia, the report was not disclosed by the government. The public had no idea of it until a report on its findings appeared in Monday’s edition of Stabroek News.
Fended off
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand has fended off criticism that her ministry had failed to implement recommendations on the myriad problems which included fire safety and behavioural issues among those attending the dorm.
Pressed on the lack of the implementation of the recommendations, she told the Stabroek News on Monday that her ministry does not have the authority to conduct maintenance, infrastructural repairs and solicit supply of goods and services for the dorms.
This responsibility Stabroek News was told, falls with the Regional Democratic Councils for schools and dormitories outside of Georgetown.
“All relevant agencies were given a copy of the report. It was shared with the relevant agencies for the recommendations to be implemented,” Manickchand had stressed.
The MoE, this newspaper learnt, has faced severe criticism following the Stabroek News report on Monday entitled “UNICEF review of school dorms last year highlighted myriad deficiencies”, for failing to have the recommendations for the dormitories implemented. However, Manickchand on Monday said that speculation at this time is not helpful in response to the backlash.
“It is true that the Ministry of Education commissioned the report because we wanted to learn what could be done to improve all dorms in the country…” Manickchand underscored. Stabroek News also learnt that the review of dormitory living is one of several reports commissioned by the Ministry after Manickchand assumed office in 2020. It is unclear whether President Irfaan Ali was aware of the UNICEF report as he has made no reference to it.
Manickchand stated that the commission of inquiry into the Mahdia Secondary School dormitory is expected to give a comprehensive review of the failings to implement critical recommendations.
Although it did not make recommendations for employment of house parents, the report pointed to the number of important duties that are assigned to such persons and that they should be reporting to the Dorms Supervisor or the School’s Head Teacher.
Neatness
“Check students’ rooms and general living areas for cleanliness, neatness and orderliness of dormitory living quarters; manage the security and discipline of the dorms’ students; plan, arrange and supervise students for special social activities and programs; attend to students’ health and welfare, provide basic first aid as necessary and take students to the doctor; prepare attendance, incident, and sick reports; prepare list of discipline issues; cultural, religious and social activities planning; submit urgent and long maintenance needs of dormitory building and facilities to dorms’ supervisor,” the report lists.
“Ensure residents confirm with dorms’ rules and schedules; work in accordance with established work schedules, policies and procedures and any other duties requested by the Dorms supervisor or management representative of the Ministry of Education,” it adds
The number of house-parents required for a dormitory is dependent on the number of buildings (accommodation) and the students’ population by gender. The ratio of dormitory parent to student is 1:30 to 40 i.e. for every 30-40 students there should be one resident House Parent of each male/female dormitory with a minimum of 2 for each for Male & Female dormitory (to allow for shift work).
The recommendations explained that the shift House Parent may not be resident on the dormitory plant and also noted that being a dorm parent cannot be an around the clock job as it is against this country’s labour laws.
“A Dorm Parent cannot be a 24-hour times seven days per week work, as this contravenes the labour laws of Guyana. Hence all dormitory plants should have a relief dormitory parent available when the full-time Dorm Parent is off-duty. In a dormitory plant where there is more than one dormitory accommodation building for male or females, with a resident population that exceeds 50, there should be a house parent for each building,” the report stated and listed Paramakatoi, in Region Eight, as an example of such a school.
In dormitory buildings where there are more than two floors of accommodation rooms for males or females and where each floor exceed 30 residents, the report said that “there should be one House Parent for each floor,” and Annai dorms and President’s College were cited.
Each dormitory parent, the report said, should have a small all-inclusive apartment within and on the same level of the students’ accommodation under his/her supervision.
The report noted that adequate accommodation with support utilities are a basic need, like food and clothing, and fundamental for guaranteeing human dignity. Therefore this is essential in an education environment for students to grow, develop, and experience stimulating, satisfying and comfortable surroundings as a home away from home.
Since dormitories greatly influence the physical and mental health of students and provide them with a place to socialise, study, and rest after school hours, thus impacting, positively or negatively, on their quality of life as well as their further interest in education pursuits, the study was needed to assess the conditions under which Guyanese children are kept.
The report recognised that dormitories in Guyana vary significantly with respect to physical condition, available resources, spatial disposition, and management systems. “The Ministry of Education recognises that with extreme climate events and migrant flows, significant steps and investment must be taken to ensure safe learning environments; which include schools in the hinterland regions, some of which include dormitories for non-resident students,” the report outlined.
The report informed that independent consultancy firm, Deen + Partners, chartered architects, was engaged to undertake a comprehensive review of the 24 active school dormitories across nine geographical regions of Guyana. The assignment involved the development of a comprehensive gender-sensitive standard for dormitory schools in Guyana, “ensuring comfortable, safe, resilient learning and living spaces created through a focus on the use of green technologies, sustainable resources and locally available materials and skills.”
The consultancy team, according to the report, used and referenced relevant documents pertaining to education and accommodation standards, gender sensitive guidelines, hygiene guidelines, safe and model schools’ guidelines, hazards risk management frameworks and information acquired from consultations with stakeholders.
The objective was to identify general deficiencies, concerns, constraints, needs, and expectations. The review also sought to establish the “perception of the functional space’s adequacy with respect to quantity and quality,” as well as identify “… issues that are gender specific in the dormitory life setting,” the report stated. Further, the assignment allowed for the “identification of spatial inequalities and patterns… issues that are gender specific in the dormitory life setting, perception and use of space with need for personal space, privacy and social interaction, adequacy of facilities and utilities…” and the discovery of “stakeholders views on development standards for physical facilities, administration and operation of the dormitory…”
Stakeholders included personnel from the Ministry of Education in Georgetown – Administration and Planning, Regional Education Office and Regional Democratic Council, the District Education Official, Head Teacher and school administration, Village Captain (Toshao) where applicable, dormitory staff – cooks, maids, house parents, supervisor, handyman, and occupants – boys and girls, according to the report.
