BUT waiting on education ministry to address environmental problems at schools

The Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) is awaiting intervention from the Ministry of Education regarding the continuous environmental issues plaguing Lester Vaughan School and Ann Hill School.

Chairman of the union’s Occupational Safety and Health Committee Julian Pierre told Barbados TODAY that the union visited the latter school on Monday to inspect classes.

“We visited the school and saw that there was dust on the books, desks and cupboards. The staff had asked for industrial cleaning to be done because the dust was affecting them. Some cleaning was done but it was not completed. There was also to be treatment of mould that was seen in some of the rooms, which was impacting staff and students as well.

“They also complained about the noise that is also coming from the construction of the fire station next door and the teachers in the classrooms downstairs said they could actually feel the vibrations from the equipment being used. On Friday, the school was closed for work to be done to the ceiling. Some of the new ceiling tiles that were replaced, however, have water stains. This means the quality of the work being done is questionable,” he said, adding that ministry officials had promised to respond to the concerns on Tuesday. 

As it relates to Lester Vaughan School, Pierre said the union would be able to better update the public on what was going on there following a meeting that is scheduled for Thursday with ministry officials. 

Last week, about 15 teachers from the Cane Garden, St Thomas school visited the headquarters of the Ministry of Education to complain about the environmental issues there, highlighting that many teachers have been going on sick leave repeatedly. 

The ministry said then that it was in talks with the parties involved, and would give a comprehensive response to the issues once investigations are completed. (SZB)