Before the end of the school term last year, on December 10 to be precise, this newspaper had reported on the situation at the Nismes Primary School. The former community high school had a fish pond, which was no doubt used to expand the students’ knowledge of aquaculture/agriculture. Some time ago, the Ministry of Education began phasing out community high schools, which were geared more toward skills acquisition to ensure that children who were not academically inclined still received an adequate education. The Nismes school was phased out, but its fish pond remained behind; typical really of the way things are done in general and not just in the education sector.
Given that the school is in a rural community and surrounded by bushy areas, the fish pond stood as an open invitation to caiman and the reptiles took up residence. The pond remained as a hazard to the hundreds of 6-12-year-old primary pupils attending school there despite numerous approaches to the relevant authorities. When finally a decision was taken to act, the proposed action was to drain the pond. It would appear that no cognizance was taken of the fact that all it would take to refill the drained pond was a few hours of heavy rainfall.
The situation was brought to the attention of this newspaper and subsequently to Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, mere days after she was sworn in. Manickchand, yet to ‘wet her feet’ in this controversial sector, promised that the pond would be filled ASAP. Clearly, she had not been apprised of the ‘same old, same old.’
On January 3, after a visit to the school, this newspaper reported that all the regional authorities had done was to dump piles of mud in front of the school; the pond remained unfilled and parents expressed reluctance to send their children to school. The Minister’s feet were not only soaked but muddied when she was forced to find herself at Nismes Primary, where she confronted and scolded members of the regional administration, who then undertook to have the school ready by the beginning of this week.
A similar situation persisted at the same time at the Uitvlugt Primary, where flooding had left the school compound less than sanitary and neglect had seen it become a haven for snakes. No preparation was undertaken for the new school term and it fell to parents to disinfect the school to ensure their children were not exposed to diseases.
The Leonora Secondary School, which cost $293.5 million to build, was hurriedly commissioned days before the general and regional elections, and was said to have the capacity to house some 700 students, but it remained incomplete as school reopened. Some students attended, going to classes in less than ideal circumstances, with workmen still working in various areas.
At the beginning of the previous school term – September, 2011 – this newspaper had reported on adverse conditions at the Golden Grove Secondary School, which had sparked a protest by parents and students. Promises had been made that the grievous physical conditions at the school would have been addressed during the holiday period, but this did not happen. Some two weeks later, after PTA officials had run interference at the Ministry of Education, former minister Shaik Baksh had slammed the regional administration in Region Four for its negligence and the school was subsequently fixed up so the students could return. Baksh had pointed out then that the education sector was operating under a decentralised system, which has been in existence since the 1980s, and that repairs and maintenance of schools and the provision of furniture was the direct responsibility of the respective regional administrations.
There are several other examples of lack of maintenance at schools, which are only addressed after protest action is taken. If as Baksh said the respective regions are responsible for the schools then it is clear that they have been doing a very poor job, and should be relieved of the responsibility. Perhaps the ministry should retain responsibility for all schools or hand this over to the school boards and PTAs. If school buildings are maintained as they ought to be, less money from the budget would have to be allocated to rebuilding structures and could instead be used to actually provide quality education.
