School building ‘sick’, parents plan protest

Parents of students at Vauxhall Primary School will be turning up at the institution
with their children tomorrow, but they would not be allowing them to go onto the plant, which they are saying is infested with “verminous problems” and is in dire need of repair.

The decision to host the protest resulted from an emergency meeting held by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) this afternoon, after only six out of 24 teachers reported for work today.

The parents who are concerned about what they described as serious environmental issues at the Christ Church institution, said they have agreed to take the stance in order to get education authorities to urgently rectify the issues.

President of the PTA Adrian Husbands contended that the conditions were unsuitable for the students and teachers. He said not only did the school appear to be falling apart, but there was also a persistent foul odour.

Parents of students at Vauxhall Primary School at an emergency meeting this afternoon.

“The parents are very disturbed and dissatisfied with the way the school is being kept and the lack of attention it is getting. And they say that when they bring their children to school in the morning that they would enter the gate but would not let their children go in the building.

“So everybody is planning to stall in the courtyard. When they see everybody gathering in the court yard and they want to know what is going on, it means that we are not taking our children in that kind of environment,” Husbands said.

The PTA also wrote a letter to the Ministry of Education outlining their concerns. The letter highlighted what the parents described as apparent mice and rat droppings at the plant, blocked drains, overgrown grass, cockroaches in partitions, and downed fencing, among other issues.

Husbands said parents were also disgruntled that teachers were being forced to work in the environment. He said he was also surprised at the bad shape the principal’s office was in.

“Our teachers at the end of the day are still somebody’s mother, father, brother, grandmother and sister. So we still have to look out for our teachers and our children. Our teachers take care of our children when we go to work,” he said.

Meanwhile, Vice President of the PTA Phyllis Cummins said she felt terrible to have witnessed the state of disrepair and deterioration of the plant. Cummins said she agreed that the issues at the school should receive urgent attention.

“I am hoping that at least somebody at the Ministry would see that we want something to happen at Vauxhall now before piece of the school drop down on the children.

“The partition in the classrooms are made of chipboard and cockroaches are living in them and they smell. The windows don’t close and when the rain falls inside would get wet causing mildew and mould. The desks have termites. The cupboards where the teachers store the books have termites. This is simply not good enough,” Cummins said.

In  a statement issued late this evening, the Ministry of Education assured that every effort was being made to rectify the problems plaguing the school.

The Ministry noted that last Wednesday, the Educational Technical Management Unit (EMTU) and environmental health officers paid a visit to the school and  discovered “evidence of wood worm in several areas, strong odours from bathrooms and blocked sinks.

It noted that a plumber was immediately called to rectify the problem identified in the bathroom and additional work is scheduled to start on Wednesday.

With respect to reports of rodent droppings, the Ministry said, “It was surmised that the garbage enclosure where garbage is stored needed to be fully enclosed.”

The Ministry said some of the repairs can be done immediately and there are some that will have to be done when school is at break,

It however assured that “every effort is being made to ensure that the issues identified are addressed by competent individuals who the Ministry has contracted. “

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb