‘Learning loss’

By Sheria Brathwaite

As the fate of the Lester Vaughan School hangs in the balance, parents are demanding answers from the Ministry of Education and the board of management about the environmental conditions at the Cane Garden, St Thomas campus. 

Since the school term started in January, classes have been disrupted several times as teachers and students reported being ill, complaining of a pungent odour and breathing trouble.

Several irate parents have told Barbados TODAY they had had enough of what they described as silence from the ministry and the board. They said they wanted to highlight their plight in light of the disruptions to their children’s learning experience.

Over the past several weeks, they have been trying, to no avail, to get information about the environmental test conducted at the school last month, they said. Some parents also complained that the substitute online learning platform was difficult for senior-year students who had upcoming City and Guilds and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, and expressed fears that their children were being disadvantaged.

A plumbing contractor linked a persistent stench on the campus to a defective sewage system following several environmental tests on the campus.

On February 27, the school was once again closed early as Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw, union leaders, teachers and school management met to discuss a way forward for the school. The following day, a virtual meeting was held with about 200 parents and it was revealed that another test was done. But this time, samples were sent to an overseas laboratory to be analysed.

The upset parents said they had not received any update on the test results and wanted to know if the findings had been sent back to Barbados.

During the February 28 meeting, Deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson announced that the hunt was on to set up a temporary satellite school for senior-year students. Nearly a month later, no accommodations had been facilitated, said the parents who expressed frustration that their children were struggling to complete School-Based Assessments (SBAs) and other final projects.

In a letter to Barbados TODAY, parents said: “We are displeased over what appears to be a lack of regard exhibited by the Ministry of Education with respect to communicating plans for the school’s future. This is in light of environmental issues faced by this institution, a grievous matter which has spanned over an extended period of 16 years, resurfacing over and over again and, most recently, causing major disruptions to the daily running of the school.

“Concerns regarding the validity of the environmental assessments within the last five years have been raised. Parents are pleading for a comprehensive study to be done on the environment, bearing in mind the previous school (St John’s Primary) that had environmental issues that resulted in its closing. Will this most recent test be any different from previous tests? Were there any tests done to identify sewage gases being emitted? Have the symptoms that have been experienced by our children and the staff been considered when these tests were done?”

Parents said these questions needed to be answered as previous studies were done and remedial measures were put in place, but the environmental issues kept re-emerging.

“This recurring pattern has raised doubts about rational decision-making processes and begs further investigation into alternative courses of investigation. There exists a call for an urgent evaluation of individuals who would have been affected to determine the course of action required and to address their exposure to any harmful toxins . . . . The utilisation of online platforms post-COVID-19 was reserved for emergency situations. Given that students have only been participating in remote learning now for the fourth week, it suggests that the school is currently operating under a state of emergency. However, there remains uncertainty regarding critical next steps and duration of time before receiving the results.”

Some parents of senior-year students said their children’s learning was compromised as several teachers had reported sick for several days over multiple weeks and learning time was lost.

They also complained that their children on many occasions also had respiratory issues and spells of headaches and nausea during classes that were in specific areas of the compound.

The parents’ letter continued: “We are profoundly disappointed in the current approach towards managing the fourth and fifth-year students who have impending CSEC and City and Guilds examinations. Students are gravely disadvantaged as a result of being unable to receive face-to-face guidance from teachers who would typically support them through this process. What pains parents is the assurance that accommodations would have been made to facilitate in-person instruction, such as being relocated to other schools, nearby churches, community centres, government offices and the private sector . . . . An appropriate plan must be in place to effectively mitigate learning loss. Merely transitioning to schooling online cannot suffice, given many students are struggling or are falling behind, due to lack of proper checks and balances in assessing virtual classroom performance accurately.”

Sheena Headley, head of the school’s parent-teacher association, said that over the past weeks, many parents have reached out to the executive seeking answers about the latest test results, whether the school will reopen and whether senior year students will receive special accommodations. Headley said that she was no wiser than the other parents, adding that she was “disappointed” she could not appropriately respond to the concerned parents.

Dr Donley Carrington, the chairman of the school’s board of management, told Barbados TODAY that the board did not determine the methods of student learning as that decision would have to be made by the Chief Education Officer.

In a related development, the findings of the latest environmental test on the campus are to be shared with the parents and other relevant stakeholders in a meeting soon, he said.

Saying it intends full disclosure about the school, the Ministry of Education said a press release would be issued on Wednesday, detailing the way forward and including information about the environmental test.

Ministry spokeswoman Gaynelle Marshall said a meeting was convened with the Chief Education Officer, union representatives, principal, board chairman and other officials late Tuesday evening.

Speaking on the parents’ communication concerns, Marshall said an official process must be followed, noting a chain of command involving the secondary schools’ board of management. It was not ministry policy, she declared, to circumvent the powers of the board of management or the principal, pointing out that communication must come from a school’s management team.

She said the ministry only got directly involved in the affairs of secondary schools when additional assistance was absolutely required. 

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb