Education Minister assures work on schools will be completed in time for new term

Teachers and students are being assured that when the new term begins in just over a week, public school plants will be in prime condition to facilitate the teaching and learning process.

Minister of Education Kay McConney said on Thursday that preparations are continuing to ensure the educational facilities are in tip-top shape.

She said the ministry will also be providing training workshops to help janitors improve cleaning methods in order to reduce mould.

“There are 20 schools that are part of the summer programme, which is where there are major works to be carried out on those various schools. Some have already been completed. Some are about 90-95 per cent completed; that’s the majority. And then there are a few that are about 60-70 per cent completed. The bottom line is we believe that we will be ready for school opening on September 18th and . . . all of those 20 schools that had to undergo major works during the summer, we expect to have them ready,” she said following a ceremony at Erdiston Teachers’ Training College to announce the 2023 scholarship and exhibition winners.

“Every Wednesday morning, we have our capital works meeting and the meeting that we had yesterday morning, Mr Francisco Miller, who is head of the Education Technical Management Unit, – that unit is in charge of the repairs to the schools – they’re telling me that we are on time. I went out last week Friday, and on Monday the team went out again to visit some of the schools where we thought there may have been some delays and I’m happy to say that as of yesterday, there was significant progress in those areas.

“So our intention is to make sure that we open on time this year and we are doing our very best, weather permitting and all other things being equal,” McConney said.

As it relates to schools, such as St John Primary, that were impacted by environmental issues during the last school year, McConney said school janitors will be trained on how to clean to reduce mould.

“In those schools where we have experienced significant concerns around the mould, there is mould remediation that is being put in place. So it’s regular cleaning plus the additional layer of cleaning that will be required to deal with those schools,” she said.

“As you know, we have many schools across Barbados that are built of that coral stone material that tends to attract mould and we are learning different cleaning techniques that would be more successful. We are having to retrain the maids, including those at the Ministry of Education where we also had some significant mould issues, about the types of cleaners you use, the types of materials you use and how you clean makes a difference in being able to manage that mould.

“So it is not just identifying it and being able to do the initial major remediation of services and as well as what’s in the air, but it is also [educating] those who do our cleaning . . . as to how best they can clean to mitigate the occurrence of mould,” Minister McConney added.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb