Poor turnout at Friendship Secondary

Sep 07, 2011 News

– weeding begins in compound, additional furniture provided

Two days after the Friendship Secondary School, East Bank Demerara, officially re-opened its doors to welcome its students, there has been a very poor turnout as a result of parents not being satisfied that the school environment is in an acceptable condition.
A number of parents blatantly refused to allow their children to return to the school which is deemed “dangerous” since the compound and buildings have now become snake and bat infested.

The Friendship Secondary School

Some children were seen on the roadway trying to get transportation to return home on the first day of school even before the lunch hour because they could not work in the current condition.
Kaieteur News understands that some repairs were completed at the school during the August vacation period. However, a lot of work is still left to be done.
The school compound had become snake infested due to the overgrown bushes and grass.
Over the past two months, eight snakes of various sizes have been killed in the said compound, either by contractors who were renovating some parts of the school, or by teachers.
It was during the orientation ceremony held on Friday, last, that the parents of first-year students began voicing their disappointment about the state of the school building and its compound.
“My son will be coming here from this term and this place don’t even look safe at all. The fence at the back cover with grass and bush and this place got snakes. I don’t live far from here and you know how much other parents talking about it being unsafe here. But what we going to do? We children get this school so we got to send them. Dem don’t have proper furniture or enough to use anyhow,” complained one boy’s mother.
Kaieteur News observed that the female washrooms were in an appalling state while the male washrooms were worse. There was no running water, sinks were broken off and lying on the floor, the floors were badly damaged and tiles were broken. A terrible stench was being emitted from all of the washrooms.
Another parent pointed out that the school also has “special needs students” and therefore should be better equipped and in good condition to facilitate such students.
“The school only has one standpipe where water is coming on and off. There should be a water trough here. Some children have special needs and require better care and facilities which could accommodate them. Here children are getting rashes. Bats are living along the stairways. There are exposed wires that can threaten the lives of children, and nobody doing anything. Is this what schools coming to now?”
This newspaper was yesterday told that the school has received additional furniture, weeding is presently being done in the compound, and less than 50 percent of the students have turned up for classes.
It is hoped by the end of the week, the situation will be rectified and there will a full turnout of students at the Friendship Secondary School.