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Region 6 school furniture issue…Education officer summons headteachers to dismiss KN article
…despite photo evidence
The Regional Education Officer of Region 6, Shafiran Bhajan, refuted an article in yesterday’s edition of the Kaieteur News, ‘Berbice schools without furniture on first day’ and called on three headteachers of New Amsterdam schools to do the same.
The official expressed dissatisfaction with the “erroneous allegations”, even though photographic evidence of children seated three in a bench and without desks was published along with the said article.
On Monday, several parents had contacted Kaieteur News about their children being uncomfortable on the first day of the new school year. Kaieteur News, later that day, learnt from reliable sources at several secondary schools across Berbice, that there had indeed been a shortage of furniture, but that the issue was being kept covered by the officials.
Photographic evidence of a furniture shortage on Monday, a claim blatantly denied on yesterday by Regional Education Officer of Region 6, Shafiran Bhajan and other education officers
On Tuesday, angered by the contents of the article, Mrs Bhajan summoned Guyana Times, Guyana Chronicle and LRTVS Channel 10 to her office, along with headteachers from New Amsterdam Multilateral School (NAMS), Vryman’s Erven Secondary School (VESS) and Tutorial Academy Secondary Schools (TASS) after which they (the headteachers) too were asked to refute the said article.
This newspaper had contacted Mrs Bhajan on Monday afternoon to answer to the allegations and she explained that there was a difficulty in transporting furniture to the Vryman’s Erven Secondary and Tutorial Academy Secondary. She mentioned that the truck was not available to fetch desks and benches to the mentioned schools, but that this would be done by late Monday.
However, at Tuesday’s meeting with some sections of the media and the headteachers at the Department of Education, the officials seemed to have conflicted themselves by admitting that there was a problem on the first day of school.
Education Officer of Secondary Schools in the region, Celeste Bristol La Rose, who was also present during yesterday’s meeting with Bhajan and the three Headteachers, admitted that “the furniture for these students could not have been moved earlier and that is because the truck responsible for moving furniture had to go to Georgetown….and as such… the truck could not be used, so it was only yesterday (Monday) that we were able to move the furniture to the schools for those students”.
Yet, Bhajan denied any furniture shortage in schools on the first day of school.
The furniture, La Rose mentioned, was delivered after school on Monday afternoon to the affected schools.
Sources yesterday revealed that even though there would have been furniture problems at the aforementioned schools, the headteachers may have been pressured to refute claims of furniture shortage, in fear.
NAMS principal, Jacqueline Benn, refuted only “some of the claims” of the said article, while VESS headteacher, Deonarine Mangra, stated that the situation at his school was much better than that of the first day of school, regarding furniture.
While furniture was quickly distributed to the affected schools late Monday, Kaieteur News has learnt that there is still need for more furniture at Canje Secondary and Corentyne Comprehensive.
During a telephone interview with the headteacher of CCSS yesterday, this newspaper learned that over two classrooms of furniture are needed, but the school’s Parent Teacher Association is trying to assist in this regard.
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