Latest update February 14th, 2025 8:22 AM
Old wooden school buildings… Are they safe?
Rehana Ashley Ahamad
In light of the recent school fires which not only caused much damage, but also traumatized a number of students and teachers, we ask ourselves, are the buildings that we live and work in safe?…Do they have emergency exits?..Fire extinguishers?
Just last week, the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations ended abruptly for students at La Parfaite Harmonie Primary school, as they had to run for their lives following a fire which started in the building.
The wooden/concrete structure was not burnt entirely to the ground. But, can you imagine if the school was old and wooden what would’ve happened?
The unsafe 80-year-old Central High School building.
Two such schools are located in Georgetown; they are the Central High and Brickdam Secondary Schools respectively.
These are old wooden, poorly ventilated buildings with not much yard space, and house hundreds of students.
As far as the 80-year-old Central High School is concerned, an official there explained that the staff would conduct regular fire drills with students.
Staff members say that while they do not make their complaints publicly known, there are times when the thought of a real fire starting in the building would frighten them.
The Ministry of Education has been battling with parents and guardians of the students at this school, regarding a merger with Lodge Secondary School.
However, these parents remain determined that they do not want their children to be placed in the same building with those at Lodge Secondary. They fear that their children may be negatively influenced.
Kaieteur News understands that the Education Ministry has been working towards finding a new plot of land on which a new state of the art school building could be constructed.
But since the available space in the city is limited, and parents do not want the school to be located out of town, the Ministry is finding it hard.
Thus, the old and unsafe building remains. Some parents are extremely worried that the school’s legacy will be lost, if a merger were to happen.
Apart from this, the heat in the building is unbearable for both the students and teachers.
As one staffer puts it- “We can’t even breathe at times. It’s like we’re being suffocated in here. Breeze like it doesn’t even come in this place.”
Another staffer explained that the Ministry’s willingness to work with them is not enough, and that the parents need to come on board, and something needs to be done as soon as possible.
There were some suggestions from parents that the school should be merged with Brickdam Secondary. But, why take students out of an old unsafe building and put them in another old and unsafe building?
The available yard space at Brickdam Secondary School.
The students of Brickdam Secondary School are also housed in an old wooden, poorly ventilated building.
“How long can we work in these conditions? Something needs to be done, and it needs to be done soon. Central High people them suffering too. Why do they not hurry, find a building, and put the two schools there? It is unsafe, and definitely not conducive…I even believe that it is a violation of our right to have proper working condition,” one staffer of Brickdam Secondary School said.
When contacted yesterday, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand promised an official comment during the course of next week.
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