The relevant parties were made aware of the findings from the Ministry of Education-commissioned UNICEF report on state dormitories which highlighted dire conditions and the need for fire safety just around a year before the May 22 blaze at a Mahdia facility that killed 20 children.
Following the publication in yesterday’s Stabroek News of the findings of the report, which had not been disclosed by the Ministry of Education or the Government of Guyana in the aftermath of the fire, questions have arisen as to why it was not acted on.
When contacted, Minis-ter of Education Priya Manickchand yesterday fended off criticism that her ministry had failed to implement recommendations on the myriad problems which included behavioural issues among those attending the dorm.
Pressed on the lack of the implementation of the recommendations, she said 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,” the Minis-ter emphasised yesterday.
The ministry, this newspaper learnt has faced severe criticism following the Stabroek News report yesterday entitled `UNICEF review of school dorms last year highlighted myriad deficiencies’ for failing to have the recommendations for the dormitories implemented. How-ever, Manickchand yesterday 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 learnt that the review of dormitory living is one of several reports commissioned by the Ministry after Manickchand assum-ed office in 2020. It is unclear whether President Irfaan Ali was aware of the UNICEF report as he has made no reference to it.
The minister 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.
Stabroek News gathered that while the Education Ministry commissioned the report it was funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with the High Commission of Canada in Guyana.
The UNICEF report is one of two warnings about fire safety that went unheeded. The Mahdia fire service had warned in November last year and February this year that grills on the windows at the Mahdia Secondary School girls dorm posed a fire hazard. The grills were seen as a major reason why the children who died were unable to escape on the night of May 22nd when the fire erupted. A resident of the dorm has since been charged with 19 counts of murder in relation to the fire.
Heavy scrutiny
Dorm-style living has come to the fore and under heavy scrutiny following the national 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 recommendation 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 Ministry facing the challenge of having the regions implement the recommendations from the report, the Ministry sought funding for the upgrading of five dormitories in their capital budget.
A sum of $679M was approved in the budget for dorms in regions 1, 7 and 9 to be upgraded – this did not include Region Eight where the fire occurred. According to the source, it was only recently that the Ministry of Education wrote to the Ministry of Finance emphasising the need for funding to implement the recommendations.
“The job at the ministry (of education) is to ensure quality education is delivered and teachers have access to teaching and curriculum materials,” the source noted, before stating that the ministry has been advocating for better facilities in the interest of the students.
“All the school dormitory facilities have systemic and similar issues related to management system inadequacies, lack of resources and inadequate functional spaces, major shortage of staff and behavioural issues with students,” read the report titled ‘Assessment Report – Field Study of Dormitory Plants…Development of Gender Sensitive Standards for Dormitory Schools in Guyana’, seen by Stabroek News.
The study, first reported on in yesterday’s edition of the Stabroek News highlighted recommendations for both fire prevention and safety and response with the report giving guidelines on being equipped and utilising standard building codes.
After speaking with management of all of the dorms in this country, the report stated that the result was that 100% of them believed that safety and health measures at their facilities were poor, some 85% said that overcrowding was a key deficiency and also related that students needed more recreational facilities, while 80% pointed out that there were water, power and sanitation deficiencies at their institutions.
When the students residing in the dorms were spoken to, staggering numbers highlighted overcrowding, poor ventilation in the rooms, inadequate toilets and showers and poor and inadequate bedroom furnishings.
Where their dormitory caregivers had highlighted a lack of recreational facilities, the 85% number was the same for students except that when it came to the provision of indoor activities 100% highlighted that there was a deficiency and they needed more options such as board games or a basic television to watch.
All of the students also stated that they needed access to computers and the internet/Wi-Fi.
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 said it was 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 report stated.
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 said. 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, Headteacher 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.
