Another 600 children have been sent home as yet another primary school has been closed because of sewer problems.
Officials at the Ragoonanan Road Government Primary School began sending its students home from September 19, ten days after the opening of the new school term.
They were unable to attend school because the boys’ and girls’ washrooms had to be closed due to a clogged sewer line and an unbearable stench.
Concerned parent, Camille Warrick, whose ten-year-old son is in Standard Five and preparing to write the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination in May next year, said the boys’ toilet was closed at the beginning of the school term.
“They were made to use the infants’ toilet but the problem escalated when the girls’ washroom also became unusable.
“By September 19, the school started sending the children back home, sometimes from as early as 9.25 am. There was an unbearable stench from the sewer plant,” she added.
Warrick said school officials attempted to rectify the problem on their own by using chemicals but the problem persisted.“The children were sent home on Wednesday around midday,” she added.
Warrick said she did not bother to send her son to school yesterday.
“They keep telling them to come to school and then sending them home,” she explained.
She said school officials have reportedly been writing letters to the Education Ministry about the matter and requesting permission for the closure of the school until the problem is rectified.
“We understand they have not been getting any response and so is unable to close the school,” she said.
Sources at the Education Ministry said the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL), the state entity in charge of school maintenance and repairs, was contacted on the matter and is reportedly working on it.
Vice president of the school’s Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA), Prakash Mahabir, said yesterday they finally got a commitment from the Water and Sewerage Authority to visit the school today to assess the problem.
The school’s 600 students have joined another 547 from the Chaguanas Government Primary School who were also sent home on November 9 because of an overflowing sewer plant.
After several delays, the school’s PTA was finally told the EFCL had awarded a contract to fix the problem.
“Yes, work has started but we don’t know when it would be completed,” PTA president, Lyndon Mohammed, said.
Ministry sources said the sewer tank had already been pumped and work should be completed by the end of this week.
“The school should be reopened by Monday,” it was stated.
A number of schools which were not being maintained have been closed and the students sent home. The new EFCL board has been reportedly reviewing all contracts after the alleged discovery of documents at its offices pointing to contractual impropriety.
The new board was appointed after the PNM won the September 7 general election.
The closure of the schools has been having a ripple effect with parents being forced to take extra leave to stay home with their children. This has been affecting productivity at workplaces.
Others have to find extra money to pay people to watch their children while they went to work.
Hundreds of students writing the SEA exam next year and those who have begun doing the Continuous Assessment Component aspect are being affected with the closure of their schools.