Latest update November 5th, 2024 1:00 AM
Parents protest state of Philadelphia Primary
Chanting “We want a new school” parents and students of Philadelphia Primary School in Vergenoegen, West Coast Demerara, yesterday protested the condition and state of the school in which the students attend.
According to the parents assembled at the school, the building in which the children are housed is a danger to their safety.
For many years complaints have been made to the Regional Education Officer and to the Ministry of Education.
Parents and students at the Philadelphia Primary protest the condition of the school that is a danger to the students’ wellbeing.
“We were promised a school too long, and it is always not on the budget this year, and the patching and the patching of the school is going on for too long. Because is substandard patch work we getting, and is 300 plus students going here,” one mother said.
Parents together related that their children spend most of their time in school and the building in which they stay should be safe and conducive for their well being.
Some parents proudly recalled that the school produced well known and respectable members of society. “Former Brigadier Edward Collins, headmistresses and headmasters and persons of good caliber came from this school…I don’t know why the Ministry is treating this school like this.”
On a tour conducted by concerned parents, this publication was shown various defects within the building. These included a large hole on the lower flat which is covered with sand, while there were columns that are deteriorating. The classrooms were clustered, they said.
Other complaints were the pit latrines being used by the students of the school. “The other building with toilets are not working; the pipelines damage and they lock up the place…Since 2007 we are asking for a new school, they patch it up since then.”
Students also complained that when rain falls there is leakage which causes much discomfort while they are attending classes. “Even bat dung falls on us in class.”
Teachers were reluctant to comment on the situation of the school and on the parents’ concerns.
When the Ministry of Education was contacted however, no one could confirm if any reports were made.
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