Fearful for the health of their young children, parents of the Port Kaituma area are calling on the relevant authorities to fix the facilities of the primary school in the community.
One parent, who spoke to Stabroek News on the condition of anonymity, said she was worried about her two children who attend the school. In a telephone interview, the mother said the problem had been ongoing for a very long time and is only worsening as time passes.
She described the washroom facilities as disgustingly dirty and a photo seen by this newspaper showed an unclean toilet surrounded by faeces smeared floors and walls.
The woman further said her daughters have already gotten infections from using the washroom and have begun to trek home to use their own toilet instead. “Up here, the children are getting fevers and other illnesses because the facilities are just so dirty…it’s not healthy for children to go to school,” the mother lamented.
According to her, the school has limited cleaning staff because oftentimes paperwork such as identification cards and birth certificates are required for potential employees. However, she said, such identification is “difficult.”
“The main thing should be that the school will be kept clean and children will be kept clean,” she opined. She added that her children would return home dirty and dusty from school.
The situation had reached the level where parents themselves had cleaned the facilities, she said. However, it quickly returned to its current state. She added that there are six functioning toilets in the school, 3 for boys and 3 for girls, with over 300 students in the school.
Furthermore, she said, the school was experiencing other difficulties including the shortage of furniture.
“Mussy over 300 students in the primary presently or more because it’s a lot come from different areas to go to school here,” she said. The concerned mother said sometimes 4 children are sitting on a single bench, a situation that was difficult and stymied the students’ focus.
The mother explained that a lot of parents have spoken out about the school’s issues but their complaints were all in futility. She further said, whenever persons spoke out, they feared being victimization to not only themselves but their children as well. “If you try to take out pictures and thing they threaten to sue you,” she said. She continued, “Parents are friken to speak out because of these things.”
She maintained something must be done to safeguard the health and safety of all of the school’s occupants. Fearful for the health of their young children, parents of the Port Kaituma area are calling on the relevant authorities to fix the facilities of the primary school in the community.
One parent, who spoke to Stabroek News on the condition of anonymity, said she was worried about her two children who attend the school. In a telephone interview, the mother said the problem had been ongoing for a very long time and is only worsening as time passes.
She described the washroom facilities as disgustingly dirty and a photo seen by this newspaper showed an unclean toilet surrounded by faeces smeared floors and walls.
The woman further said her daughters have already gotten infections from using the washroom and have begun to trek home to use their own toilet instead. “Up here, the children are getting fevers and other illnesses because the facilities are just so dirty…it’s not healthy for children to go to school,” the mother lamented.
According to her, the school has limited cleaning staff because oftentimes paperwork such as identification cards and birth certificates are required for potential employees. However, she said, such identification is “difficult.”
“The main thing should be that the school will be kept clean and children will be kept clean,” she opined. She added that her children would return home dirty and dusty from school.
The situation had reached the level where parents themselves had cleaned the facilities, she said. However, it quickly returned to its current state. She added that there are six functioning toilets in the school, 3 for boys and 3 for girls, with over 300 students in the school.
Furthermore, she said, the school was experiencing other difficulties including the shortage of furniture.
“Mussy over 300 students in the primary presently or more because it’s a lot come from different areas to go to school here,” she said. The concerned mother said sometimes 4 children are sitting on a single bench, a situation that was difficult and stymied the students’ focus.
The mother explained that a lot of parents have spoken out about the school’s issues but their complaints were all in futility. She further said, whenever persons spoke out, they feared being victimization to not only themselves but their children as well. “If you try to take out pictures and thing they threaten to sue you,” she said. She continued, “Parents are friken to speak out because of these things.”
She maintained something must be done to safeguard the health and safety of all of the school’s occupants.
