SCHOOL FIX

Industrial clean at St Paul’s Primary after dead rats found but parents want assurances

By Anesta Henry

Parents of St Paul’s Primary School students are calling on the Ministry of Education to resolve the environmental issues at the McClean Gap, Brittons Hill, St Michael institution urgently.

Classes were suspended on Wednesday after a dead rodent was sighted, and industrial cleaners were called in.

However, several parents who collected their children said they wanted assurances from authorities that the plant was not a danger to their children or teachers.

Some said the school plant and surroundings were in need of general repairs and cleaning to make the environment safer for those who learn and work there.

“I am not the Ministry of Health, an exterminator or a doctor, but these children need to go home. The school needs to be closed and there needs to be an environmental cleaning,” one parent told Barbados TODAY.

Another added: “Everywhere has issues from time to time, and I hope that now that this particular issue has been highlighted that the Ministry would take the time to deal with it. The Ministry needs to make provisions to deal with this matter swiftly.”

Meanwhile, one mother who said she felt unsettled, said she believed that since Tuesday when a rodent was spotted on the school compound, officials should have announced the suspension of classes.

“Parents shouldn’t have to be turning up here from work to then have to turn around and make a plan for their children to be kept. I now have to put a plan in place at 10 o’clock this morning, and I have two other children that are not at this school to consider, so this unravels my whole day,” she lamented.

Classes were first disrupted on Tuesday when rodents were sighted in the school hall. Chairman of the Barbados Union of Teachers’ (BUT) Health and Safety Committee Julian Pierre had insisted then that the school should be closed to facilitate industrial cleaning.

Pierre, who is also the First Vice President of the BUT, said he was not pleased that the Ministry of Education did not officially close the school even though the dead rodent was spotted on Wednesday.

He said as a result of 11 classes being displaced, 65 students of various ages had to be assembled in one classroom.

“It is very uncomfortable for the students and the teachers. Obviously, it means that no teaching or instruction can take place today. Yet we are still awaiting word from the Ministry of Education to close the school. It is approaching lunchtime,” Pierre said in the morning.

“What happens at lunchtime with 65 children in a 20 by 20 space trying to eat lunch as well? No work is going on at the school. We believe that the school should be closed. We were told that a team of industrial cleaners have been dispatched to come to the school. But in an environment such as this, we believe that the Ministry has to make a wise decision to close the school for certain types of work to be done,” he told Barbados TODAY.

Pierre confirmed that the industrial cleaners did turn up and carry out thorough cleaning. The BUT official said teachers were on hand to show the cleaners the specific areas that needed to be cleaned and were generally pleased with the work done.

Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer Bradshaw issued a statement on Wednesday evening stating that the Vector Control Unit had returned to the school in the morning to check the bait that was put down the previous day.

She said two dead rodents were discovered but the Environmental Health Officer did not deem it an infestation.

Archer Bradshaw indicated that the ministry contacted and deployed a cleaning team to augment the efforts of the school’s janitorial staff and ensure that students were returned to their classrooms as soon as possible.

“During that time, the children were housed in other rooms across the campus. The Environmental Officer indicated that rodents can move around from surrounding areas from time to time in search of food. The METVT [Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training] will continue to work with the school, other Ministries and agencies to ensure the health of staff and students on the compound. The METVT thanks all staff, students and parents for their patience and understanding as it sought to address the situation,” the education chief said.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb