Schools urgently need repairs – BUT

A leading teachers’ union is charging that Government’s widely-publicised summer rehabilitation programme at the island’s schools appears to be hindered by a lack of funding and shoddy workmanship that has left some campuses plagued by mold, leaky roofs, overgrown fields and termite-infested walls.

So dire is the situation at some of the learning institutions, that the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) is demanding that the health and safety conditions of several school plants be given the full and urgent attention of the Ministry of Education.

Julian Pierre, the chairman of the union’s Occupational Safety and Health Committee told Barbados TODAY in a recent interview that only a small portion of the island’s schools fell under the annual summer maintenance programme but many others were in desperate need of attention.

He said the programme over the years has failed to produce quality results as it has been impacted by poor work.

“The Ministry of Education placed 26 schools on the annual Schools Summer Maintenance Programme and while the work on most of the schools was completed, some schools were postponed due to a lack of funding. There are several other schools which also need maintenance and upgrades for an extended period and are years overdue,” he said.

Pierre, in a prepared article, said there was a long list of issues affecting students, teachers and ancillary staff at schools such as mold, especially at schools that are housed in traditional church halls which were made of limestone.

He said these buildings hold moisture when it rains and the mold affected the respiratory systems of those housed within.

“The BUT has recognised a trend in schools with such buildings that teachers, ancillary staff and students fall ill while at these schools. However, when on vacation, especially during the summer, their health improves while away from the school. This has been the case especially at the St. John Primary School.”

He said ‘mushrooms’ were growing in some areas of the prefab buildings at that school, and the BUT was worried that several teachers, ancillary staff and students have been experiencing significant health issues over the years while at the school.

“There is a trend where teachers have been transferring from the school for the sake of their health. It was also

reported that several adults and students frequently seek medical attention at the close-by St. John polyclinic (David Thompson Health and Social Services Complex) during the school term but not while on vacation.”

Pierre, who is also the first vice president of the BUT, said that some of the work done to some schools recently was below standard and this was the case with the newly-replaced roof at The Alleyne School.

He said poor plumbing and patching work and the lack of toilet seats in the students’ bathrooms, especially the girls’ bathrooms, were also major issues at the Wesley Hall Infants School and Deacon’s Primary School, which also needs electrical fixtures such as utility cables.

The teacher made reference to the issue of security at St Silas Primary School which lacks fencing and has become a hangout spot after school hours and a thoroughfare when classes are in session.

He said there was an urgent need for security officers at this school and many others, adding that the guard huts built several years ago at various schools, were ridden with wood worms and termites.

Pierre added that a serious termite issue was also affecting Eden Lodge Primary School as a number of trees on the school premisses are filled with woodworms

and termites and in some cases, large branches have broken off and fallen damaging the roof of one

of the school blocks.

Pierre said the situation was so concerning that the principal had forbidden anyone on the compound to walk

under the trees, adding that the trees’ roots were creeping under one of the corridors of another block near where students go for their lunch every day.

He noted that reports were made to the Ministry of Transport, Works and Water Resources to facilitate the removal of the trees but to date nothing was done about the matter.

As it relates to prefab buildings, the article said “These wooden buildings are plagued by wood worms and termites. They are just painted over and not properly repaired.

“Several of the buildings have sinking floors which are extremely dangerous to both teachers and students to be used as classrooms.”

Some of the schools affected are St. George Primary School, Christ Church Girls’ School and the St. John Primary School.

Another area of concern is overcrowding at St. Giles Primary School that was so bad, Pierre said, “students cannot push back their chairs to stand and must turn at a side to be able to get up with four to five classes cramped in each section of the school hall”.

He said that in one instance about 50 students shared one room in the infants’ block. He added that there was also a shortage of furniture there and the school was in need of a solar panel to provide the nutrition room with hot water. The panel there was vandalised last year, he added.

According to Pierre there was also a series of structural issues at the Ellerslie School which include cracked cement ceilings and floors in classes, the canteen, hall, staff rooms, and stairwells. There were also roof leaks in several parts of the school.

The union’s occupational safety and health officer added that there was need for designated parking spaces and other infrastructure for the schools including ramps and rails for those institutions which catered for students with disabilities.

He also suggested that the Ministry of Education coordinates with other government departments to maintain playing fields and play parks at schools.

Pierre said that grass had grown tall at a number of schools and not only trapped garbage but attracted rodents and inhibited students from engaging in certain activities.

“Some fields are filled with holes and it is unsafe for those using the fields for school and community-based recreational activities . . . and some fields haven’t

been cut since during the summer holiday.

“Since then, the grass has grown to a point where it is

taller than the students and in some cases the grass is as high as three feet tall.”

He noted that at present, reports from the Ministry of Education and the National Sports council indicated that there was only one tractor each to service almost 100 schools.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb