Odours at George Lamming Primary ‘forces teachers home’

Teachers at the George Lamming Primary School are said to be closely eyeing possible environmental issues at the school that caused some of them to return home.

President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT), Pedro Shepherd confirmed that on Tuesday, some teachers complained of a strong scent of gas emanating from the school compound.

According to Shepherd, some were so affected by the odour that they were forced to seek medical attention.

As a result, officials from the Ministry of Education, including the Assistant Director of the Education Technical Management Unit, Francisco Miller were called in to investigate.

On Thursday, when a Barbados TODAY team visited the Bridge Road, St Michael school, operations appeared to be continuing as normal.

Some parents and guardians also confirmed that they were called in early on Wednesday to collect their children, but said they had not been alerted of any serious issues.

But one employee said that on Thursday, quite a number of teachers were noticeably absent from school.

Principal Grace Wickham told Barbados TODAY she had no comment to make and said that Acting Chief Education Officer Dr Roderick Rudder would be better placed to respond.

Calls to Dr Rudder were not returned.
(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)