BUT: Expedite school maintenance department

The Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) has urged the government to fast-track plans for a maintenance department within the Ministry of Education, citing growing environmental and structural problems at schools across the island.

Julian Pierre, BUT vice president and chairman of its occupational safety and health committee, made the appeal following a tour of Wesley Hall Junior School on Monday. The inspection came after repair works were completed at the institution, which is set to reopen on Tuesday.

The union’s push for a maintenance department comes amidst a backdrop of persistent infrastructure challenges in Barbadian schools, with the BUT positioning it as a proactive measure to safeguard educational environments and use resources
efficiently.

While acknowledging improvements at Wesley Hall, Pierre highlighted ongoing issues at other schools. “Ann Hill School is still an ongoing matter,” he said, noting that the ministers of labour, home affairs and education are working with stakeholders to address concerns. “Things like dust screens and noise cancellation equipment [are] to be installed. There are still some issues of roofing and water which must still be addressed.”

Pierre also mentioned problems at St George Primary, including structural integrity issues in the hall, pest infestations and plumbing concerns. He expressed hope that these and other schools would be addressed during the summer maintenance programme.

Julian Pierre, First Vice President and Chairman of the BUT’s Occupational Safety and Health Committee.

He said: “The other school St George Primary has some issues this term relating to their hall and the integrity of the structure being a bit rusted. They had some issues with birds and bats and so on, also some plumbing issues. Those are presently being rectified as well. We are hoping that work to be done during the summer, with the summer maintenance programme, along with other schools on the list for this programme, that everything will be done, that when we do our inspections coming onto the end of summer, that all of the schools will be ready for the opening of the new school year.”

The union official emphasised that an active maintenance department could prevent many problems. “Once there is ongoing maintenance on a frequent basis, it then would lessen how much money is spent over the period of time,” Pierre explained, citing early detection of electrical issues as an example.

Regular cleaning was highlighted as a critical focus for the proposed department. “As was said by the environmentalists, there are all kinds of toxins and bacteria and so on in the environment,” Pierre said, advocating for thorough cleaning at least once per term.

Principal Herbert Gittens.

The BUT representative also suggested that a dedicated maintenance department could help ensure higher standards of work from contractors. Referencing ongoing issues at Ann Hill since November, he called for “better screening of the companies and persons they contract, to make sure that once work is done, it is done to what would be the standards for building”.

He stressed that the cleaning of schools should be seen as a critical area of focus for the soon-to-be-established department.

“As was said by the environmentalists, there are all kinds of toxins and bacteria and so on in the environment. Some are healthy, some are not. For those who have the opportunity to thrive in certain conditions, you would be able to mitigate those things with thorough cleaning, let’s say once a term, as opposed to when things get bad over a number of years and then persons start to get sick in the environment.” 

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb