Latest update December 16th, 2024 9:00 AM
Vreed-en-Hoop school reopens
Having been sanitised to the satisfaction of parents, students and teachers alike, the Vreed-en-Hoop Secondary School, West Coast Demerara, has returned to full operation.
It was just last Friday that parents and students of the school staged protest action to retaliate the condition of the school, which they had regarded as unhygienic. Students had not attended school last week because of the state of the compound which, just the previous week, was inundated with water resulting from the effects of springtide.
Students back to school yesterday
The school is situated in close proximity to a cemetery and there are several pit latrines nearby, all of which were submerged by flood waters that had also flooded the school’s compound.
Due to the situation there were no classes held at the school although teachers were in attendance. Some parents had even alleged that some of the school teachers were sent to the West Demerara Secondary School, thereby reducing the complement of available teachers.
But parents were even more concerned that their children were being deprived of classes as a result of the situation. As a result, protest action was streamlined and was engaged on Friday.
Yesterday morning, during a visit to the Vreed-en-Hoop area, students could be seen scurrying along to school after almost an entire week of no classes. One teacher informed this newspaper that the school compound was sprayed on Thursday and the building was ready to be utilised since Friday.
However, it was only yesterday that the school’s population turned out in full.
Last Thursday, parents had speculated even then that protest action would have been the likely course of action if the school was to return to normal operation. For at least two weeks last month there were no sessions at the school.
In recognition of the problem last month, officials at the Regional Education Department had taken a decision to have some classes be alternatively accommodated, dedicating a section of the Regional Department building for this purpose.
Classes would continue at the school some two weeks later but not without some concerns being raised by both parents and teachers about the condition of the school’s compound and sections of the bottom flat due to the flood situation. The situation was further compounded when the effects of the springtide were felt again earlier this month.
The school which is housed in two buildings has a staff of approximately 30 teachers and a student complement of close to 700.
A visit to the school last week revealed empty classrooms and a rubble-filled and slushy compound, all representing after effects of flooding caused by the recent springtide. Several teachers could be seen around the school building but with nothing to do as there were no students on site to teach.
The teachers, though reluctant to speak, said that they were willing to teach regardless of the condition of the school, even revealing that they were simply awaiting the Regional Department to facilitate the cleaning of the compound.
This newspaper understands that a man was sent to the school last Thursday to spray the compound as part of the preparation for the resumption of the full operation of the school. However, reports are that the man who was tasked with spraying the compound did not undertake his task, then, reportedly due to the disappearance of a cutlass, leaving parents, who had by then gathered at the Regional Department office, to question the urgency of making the school useable.
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