Deplorable conditions at Golden Grove Secondary …. Parents take protest action to OP

Sep 21, 2011 News

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Having not received satisfaction, parents who protested the deplorable conditions of the Golden Grove Secondary School at the commencement of the school term earlier this month, yesterday shifted their protest action to the Office of the President.
However, police barricaded the area in the immediate vicinity, and the protestors were moved to the junction of Regent Road and Shiv Chanderpaul Drive.

Some of the placards read; “Minister Baksh our school is in bad bad shape,” “Region four educational department is toothless,” “We need a new school,” “Mr Baksh less talk we need action now,” and “Save limbs and lives now.”
Representatives of the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) two weeks ago met with regional officials to discuss the physical conditions of the school and were given the assurances that their concerns would be addressed. However, this was not the case.
According to the PTA Chairman David Gentle, there are 639 students attending the Golden Grove Secondary, and after the first protest – at the beginning of the school term – parents visited the regional office where they spoke to the chairman and the Regional Education Officer, and were promised that immediate action would have been taken.
“This is the third week we in and there is nothing being done. Recently the rain started to fall again and the children had to shelter with umbrella and another student tell me he had to duck under the desk. All this happened while in the school building!” Gentle said emphatically.
The PTA chairman recommended that a structural engineer be sent to the school to test its “soundness”
“Walking or running in it is worse…that whole building is shaking.”
Adding that all the columns holding up the school have deteriorated, Gentle said the steel in the columns are clearly exposed with the rust and fragility evident.
Noting that he was shocked by electricity in the building, Gentle said other parents experienced the same electrical shock while they were at a meeting.
When asked to list some of the major problems facing the school at present, Gentle mentioned the leaking roof, deteriorating columns, shaky stairway, and appalling washrooms.
Other disgruntled parents said that although they need their children to attend classes, they would also appreciate the closure of the school for it to be renovated so their children’s lives would not be placed in danger.
“There must be some place to accommodate the children until the school is fixed…we need the school to close down,” one female parent said.
Another noted that the commencement of the school term saw 16 benches and 13 desks being provided, however, “I was there when they said they would have sent 50 but it wasn’t 50, when you look into the classes a small bench got three children squeezing up together.”
Parents collectively agreed that children are made to sit in classrooms which are not conducive for learning, since classrooms lack furniture and other basic necessities.
“They don’t have good toilet facilities or good windows to protect the children from the elements.”
According to a letter signed by 26 parents, “the Regional Chairman visited without his technical officers. Since our requests were not met we are here today to further reinforce our demands…We are of the opinion that a new school is needed with all the facilities in keeping with modern day trends. Therefore Mr. Minister we urge that the school be closed urgently so as to save time and life.”
However, yesterday the parents visited the Ministry of Education to meet with officials pertaining to the issue.
According to Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh, he is concerned that the Region Four administration had not carried out critical renovation works at Golden Grove Secondary.
However, to date, rehabilitation works have not yet commenced. A few frustrated members of the PTA on Tuesday met with Minister Baksh to chart the way forward. The minister promised to discuss the matter with Local Government and Regional Development Minister Norman Whittaker and do all within his powers to remedy the problem.
The Minister revealed that a Ministry team will visit the school today to assess the situation and facilitate a resolution to the problem. The team will look at issues regarding furniture, as well as the state of the building, and convene a meeting with parents on the way forward.
He said that the Ministry will continue to provide support to the regions in their planned repairs and maintenance programmes while recognising that they have direct responsibility for these functions in keeping with the decentralised system of education.

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