Parent advocate recommends infrastructure committee to address problem-plagued school buildings

The sick building syndrome affecting a number of the island’s schools is troubling, says the Group of Concerned Parents of Barbados.

And parent advocate and spokesperson of the group, Paula-Anne Moore on Wednesday urged education authorities to confront the vexing issue head-on.

She proposed the creation of an infrastructure committee, including representatives of teachers, parents, students and other experts, to “identify in a proactive and systematic way, the needs of all schools”.

In recent weeks, there have been environmental woes plaguing the St John’s Primary School, complaints of poor conditions including mould and persistent leaks at the Ann Hill School on Pine Plantation Road, St Michael, and similar long-standing issues at the Luther Thorne Memorial Primary School.

Moore, who also cited issues at Combermere School eight years ago and the 2006 closure of the Louis Lynch Secondary School, cautioned that the failure to find a fix for such critical issues could undermine confidence in the proposed transformation of the education system.

“One cannot help but echo the concerns that were put forward by the Barbados Union of Teachers President Rudy Lovell that with the best intentions in the world, how can we look at a radical transformation of the existing national education system when these fundamental issues relating to infrastructure maintenance, among other fundamental issues, are not yet clearly well in hand? And if they are not addressed properly prior to the transformation, isn’t it inevitable that those infrastructure issues will continue to manifest whatever system lies before Barbados in the future?” she queried.

Moore, who acknowledged that substantial resources are required to manage school plants, insisted that an infrastructure committee could zero in on the issues.

“We are aware that there are always competing needs to the limited budget of the government purse, but all the evidence calls for a different approach, especially if the government wishes the public to have confidence in their education reform proposals which we trust are not written in stone.

“An infrastructure committee can ensure that there is an adequate marriage of budget and finances to address these challenges of maintenance so that there is a more proactive resolution and that it does not take parents and children to be out protesting against what should be a basic right to a safe and healthy classroom experience,” she said.

Moore praised the actions of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) of the St John’s Primary School which pressed for students to be relocated to allow authorities to investigate the poor conditions at the Glebe Land school plant.

Classes were relocated to the nearby Messiah House Wesleyan Holiness Church in Massiah Street on Monday until the end of the term.

“We have to commend the president and members of St John’s Primary for demonstrating what a PTA can do, what its role should be, and how that advocacy can be successful. So well done to that PTA,” Moore said. “Too often, parents do not support their PTAs enough; too often, PTA executives think that their role is to 100 per cent back school administrations even if sometimes there are issues which need to be addressed in the students’ and teachers’ best interests that might be contrary to what the school administration would want.

“So, I would exhort parents to be more involved in their respective school PTAs and ensure that their PTAs are fulfilling their mandate of being true advocates…. It can only result in a better school for everyone,” Moore added. (SD)