Saying their children were suffering in a “horror school” overcome by snakes and caimans, angry parents of Fanny Village Government Primary School yesterday staged a placard protest.
Calling on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to intervene immediately, the protestors said their children were falling ill because of the sickening conditions they faced every day.
President of the PTA, Byron Cumberbatch, said the old school building in Point Fortin was destroyed in a fire in April last year and since then 250 pupils and 15 teachers have been attending classes at the Fanny Village Community Centre.
He also explained that the rubble from the old school building was never cleared and had become a haven for snakes, centipedes, scorpions and caimans.
On Monday, a boa constrictor (macajuel) was found slithering near a classroom, Cumberbatch said.
When the T&T Guardian visited yesterday, the leaking, cramped community centre was draped with vines. The toilets were broken and the roof of the infants’ annex was leaking. Part of the roof tiles were also missing.
Cumberbatch said the community centre was outfitted to accommodate Standards One to Three, while a prefabricated structure was used to accommodate the Standards Four and Five.
An annex built to the side of the centre, housed the Infants Department and whenever it rained, Cumberbatch said the children have to run for cover.
Showing off soaked benches and desks, parent Dorchelle Bartholomew, said: “Our children cannot stay in these classrooms because it is dangerous.
“Whenever it rains, the water gushes down the sides of the walls, soaking the electrical outlets.
She said the washroom from the girls’ toilet had no lights. Irvin Felix, whose son, Aiden, is in First Year said he was upset by the conditions.
He added that $28 million was spent on the structure but during a meeting with the Minister of Education Anthony Garcia in July, they were told that the structure has to be demolished.
Efforts to contact Garcia yesterday proved futile as calls to his cellular phone went unanswered.
However chief education officer Harrilal Seecharan said the ministry was looking at the issue to see how best it could be resolved.
He said school supervisors would be meeting with the PTA to discuss the way forward. Asked whether it was true that the new school construction had to be demolished, Seecharan said he did not have any information on that.