Approximately a dozen schools were forced to remain closed yesterday as the new school term began.
President of the T&T Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) Devanand Sinanan said the problems ranged from unsafe structures to some schools being totally unacceptable for students to operate.
Listing some of the affected schools, Sinanan said the entire compound of the Moruga RC Primary School had been deemed unsafe as part of the building had collapsed, while at the Arima Boys’ RC Primary School, only Standard Four and Five pupils attended school.
Confirming that the above mentioned schools had been affected, chief executive officer of the Catholic Education Board Sharon Mungroo explained that due to the age of the Moruga structure, the building began crumbling during the vacation period as workmen effected repairs to the roof. She said yesterday while the old building had since been demolished and the site cleared of the rubble, a temporary structure was yet to be erected to accommodate the students.
Mungroo said they have been assured that alternative accommodation would be in place by September 14 so that classes could resume. Meanwhile, only Standards Four and Five pupils of the Arima Boys’ RC Primary School attended classes at the Arima Girls’ RC Primary School and the church hall. Mungroo said that move resulted after the building previously occupied at the old site, which was located next to the Hearty Foods Supermarket, Arima, had been deemed structurally unsafe after last month’s fire. She said arrangements had been made to accommodate the boys in the interim but that other pupils had been told to remain at home while clean-up efforts were carried out in Arima.
Although they reported for classes as normal yesterday, pupils of South Oropouche RC Primary School were allowed to return home after it was discovered that repairs to the school’s toilets had not been completed. It was a similar situation at the Aranguez TIA Primary School and the D’Abadie Government Primary School where repairs to the electrical systems, toilets and roofs remained incomplete. Sinanan said: “Piccadilly Government Primary has been condemned by the engineer, while at Mucurapo Girls’ RC, there is an electrical problem that was not attended to and there is a shortage of teachers.”
He claimed there was also an issue at the Aranguez North Secondary as the air-conditioning system was non-functional, although the school was used as a polling station during Monday’s general election. At the North Oropouche RC Primary School, parents once again voiced objections regarding student accommodation as they demanded that work be done to repair the school and replace furniture.
Pupils of that school experienced a problem last term which caused many of them to begin itching, following which the Education Facilities Company Limited replaced all the wooden windows and repainted the school during the vacation.
However, parents yesterday demanded that the wooden partitions and furniture be replaced and that air quality tests be done. Sinanan said: “It is just not working. It is too much work for one company to do everything and managed in that manner. “Some kind of decentralised approach is probably the best option and the new government will want to consider that as the approaches to school repairs.”
Former TTUTA president Anthony Garcia is expected to be named as the new education minister. Sinanan said he had already congratulated Garcia on his win in Arima and was looking forward to working with him.
“Mr Garcia has indicated to me he will like to meet with TTUTA as soon as possible. Of course they have to go through the bureaucracy in an appointment but we will be working with him closely to see how best we can deal with some of these unique challenges,” Sinanan added.
Among the matters he is expected to discuss with Garcia, Sinanan said curriculum reform was at the top of the list, followed by the introduction of the Continuous Assessment Component (CAC) over the last two years.