Students and teachers of Wisburg Secondary are likely to be back in their classrooms this morning, following commitments by the regional administration to address conditions at the school that triggered a protest by parents yesterday.
The Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) of the secondary school yesterday morning locked its gates in protest against what it described as the non-responsiveness of regional and education officials to several issues.
Among the problems are: the constant flooding of the Home Economics Depart-ment; the mosquito infestation; and the exposed electrical outlets in most of the classrooms. Stabroek News was told that some of these problems existed since 2007 but had not been addressed. Parents turned up at the institution early yesterday morning and locked the gates to prevent both teachers and students from entering the premises. They also formed a blockade in front of the school gates.
Chairman of the Regional PTA Pastor Selwyn Sills appealed to parents to work together to foster a proactive stand rather than a reactive position on issues of the school and their children’s welfare. Parents said that they would allow their children to return to school today and will be vigilant to ensure that the problems are addressed in a timely manner. “If we send our children back to the school and we see that things are not happening fast enough we will take it to another level,” one parent declared.
According to Michelle Inveary, Secretary of the school’s PTA, the decision to lock the gates was taken at a PTA meeting on Tuesday, after Head Teacher Carolyn Canterbury was asked about the issue. She said that several letters had been sent to both the Regional Administration and the Department of Education on numerous occasions without any positive response. Canterbury said, “I called the REO (Henry Rodney) yesterday (Tuesday) and he said that he had no knowledge of the issues.” She had in her possession copies of several letters dating back as far as 2009 to substantiate her statement.
Water had formed a stream across the walkway of the Home Economics Department and at the door of the room the flow was even heavier. Five to six new electrical stoves, which were never installed, were all rusting from the bottom, having been soaked in the deluge. The bottoms of the cupboards were also showing signs of rot.
The school’s administration had taken a decision to close the department from January 31 and a letter was sent to the Department of Education of Region 10 to this effect on Tuesday. The letter also indicated the PTA’s intention to protest.
According to Inveary, sometime in 2010 the PTA secured the expertise of a certified plumber, who identified the problem as a broken pipe which was concealed under the concrete floor of the building. “He offered to do the work free of cost and forever we have been asking for the blueprint to get the situation rectified but all to no avail.”
Meanwhile, there were exposed electrical outlets in almost all the classrooms in the school building. A section of the double-flat building has been out of use for an extended period because of electrical problems. Several students also expressed disgust at the state of the computer laboratory, saying that the air-conditioning unit has not been working, resulting in the dust affecting the systems. “We can’t get to complete our assignments on time because most of the computers are not working. We have to be opening the window to get air in the room and so the mosquitoes take over the whole place—we can’t even sit to work for a five minutes,” said a student.
The problem of mosquito infestation was not unique to the computer lab but existed throughout the school. In addressing parents and teachers, Regional Chairman Mortimer Mingo said that he was informed by the Regional Administration that the building was fogged prior to the reopening of the school at the beginning of the school year. “But the head teacher had something else to say as it relates to that,” Mingo said, adding that a commitment was made by the Regional Administration to review the situation. “However I secured the commitment of BOSAI who has given their word to fog the building from 6 o’clock this evening.”
On the issue of the flooding and the electrical and other problems, a commitment was made by regional officials to have engineers examine the situation and prepare a work plan to be implemented as early as the beginning of the new week. “Money is not the issue here, money is there and I don’t know why this was not addressed before. I have been telling these officers that they have to get up from behind their desks,” Mingo said.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that the Regional Administration had knowledge of the electrical problems but had been slothful in addressing it. A reliable source said that there is a major electrical problem in the building and it requires much work. According to the source, to eliminate the risk of students being shocked it would necessitate the centralisation of all the switches in the building.
Regional Councillor and Chairman of the Regional Works Committee Renis Morian said that he was surprised to learn of the situation at the school yesterday morning. “There are officers who have the responsibility to visit schools and report on any and every problem that exist and it was shocking for me to find out about this today. It is a clear indication that persons are not doing their work,” he said.
