A crisis at our schools and at GPHC?

Jan 27, 2019 Features / Columnists, The Story within the Story

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By Leonard Gildarie

It is irrefutable. We are living in an age where very few things can shock us to the core for too long. We move on. We say next. It is how the world turns. Continuously, we see and hear things and we are stunned, momentarily.
The US has stunned us. Traditionally, the president of that country is viewed as leader of the free world, whatever that means. Donald Trump has smashed that thinking into smithereens and continues to confound the analysts who try to predict his every move…in vain.
A Twitter-loving president has taken on all and sundry, including his own. Diplomacy and traditional allies and treaties mean nought. The world has gone insane.
In Guyana, naturally, since the ‘80s especially, we have continuously looked to the west for fashion, trends and other guidance. Slowly things are changing.
In Guyana, we have more single parents than ever. We have more teen pregnancies. We have more money available to address our vulnerable. We have more persons using marijuana.
Things like a wheelchair ramp, a particular room at the police station to deal with domestic violence, and words to describe persons with special needs are suddenly important. It is all to lend to an improved quality of life of the people.
The changes are never more noticeable than in the schools, some for the worse.
This past two weeks, two private schools and a government institution came into the spotlight. And I am glad in some ways. We were hurtling down, at breakneck speed, a road which has a deep ravine at the end.
I had a personal experience a few months ago with a headmistress that I have since developed a comfortable relationship with. But it began badly.
One day, one of my little ones came home and started crying. She wanted to know if she did something bad. A man went into her school and questioned her about bullying of his son.
Of course, I became worried and very angry. How could the school allow such a thing? How did he get past the security? Did he ask the administration for permission?
I went to the management of the school immediately. Long and short of it is that I became upset and was ejected from the school.
I complained to the Regional Education Department and during a meeting, all the parties patched things up. I insisted that no one speaks to my child, with the exception of the teachers and administration. That happened around mid last year.
About two weeks ago, a number of parents called my mobile. They were angry. They are not allowed to enter the school compound. They were told to drop the children and leave.
I called the school and learnt that someone had been walking in classrooms and stealing items, including a laptop. In one instance, a man emptied a student’s haversack, packed a teacher’s laptop and strolled out. In another case, a man invited a student to take him on a ride with his bike. He wheeled out the bike, presumably under the watchful eyes of the clueless security, and then rode away, leaving the student in tears. Maybe she was paying more attention to parents who were entering with sleeveless tops.
So the school has gotten tough. I agreed. I conveyed same to the parents and I told them about the incidents.
I fully endorse the school taking action to protect the students. I saw a newscast carry the parents’ side. The danger appeared not to have been fully appreciated.

DANGEROUS IN SCHOOLS
On Thursday, a student reportedly drank something poisonous and killed herself. It happened at a prominent, private city school, and she died while being taken to the hospital.
Initial reports are that the school was not cooperative with authorities. Additional indications are the teenager had problems and there are allegations now she was being given drugs to take to the school by her boyfriend.
On Friday, at another private school, it was learnt that a student who returned from overseas, threatened to shoot-up the school.
What??? This can’t be Guyana we are talking about? Things like that just don’t happen here. It was taken seriously, with some parents keeping their children at home. The teen has been expelled and is being investigated by the police. The school has reportedly beefed up security.
Are we living in a mad world? Drugs, guns? Yes, the details are emerging, but the innocence as we knew it from the ‘80s has all gone.
I was told that there is increasing use of ecstasy, a recreational drug, which causes altered sensations and increased energy, and pleasure.
Our schools, be it private or public, have a big responsibility for the safety of our students/children. They have to take it seriously.
We have to be careful in designing our schools. Key areas like security hut location; the positioning of washrooms and more parents’ involvement will have to be taken into consideration in our long-term planning.
We have several private schools around the country. Commuters see many things happening to teenage girls, including skipping school, riding buses and cars. We hear of students drinking in nearby shops.
Who is monitoring what is happening? Are parents paying interest?
We have some tough decisions to make. The reality is that many parents are single and working. The children are often left to fend for themselves until mommy and daddy come home. There are many broken homes. Many hungry children.
Our policy makers have to pay attention to these little things. After-school activities will have to come into play to pick up the slack. We are thinking long-term here. Let the debate begin on this.
We can’t mess with our future lest we face a reality of an upset, misguided student picking up a gun. Yes, we are in bad times.

DEATHS AT GPHC
Now, there is another hugely upsetting situation happening at our premier public health institution – the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
Three children, including a relative of a friend of mine from Enmore, are dead. We don’t know if there are more.
All are related. It appeared something went wrong with the cancer treatment. I won’t speculate further. We will await the outcome of an investigation as promised by the authorities.
However, let us make a few things clear. We have an educational and health system that is largely public-funded. You want specialized, you go private.
Obviously, there will be mismanagement. There is not enough money and in any case, our attitude in the public system is still not out of the woods yet.
However, it cannot be forgiven that we sweep this one under the carpet.
Did someone screw up? Was a wrong injection given? Were wrong procedures and medicines used? Was there enough paperwork that allowed us to determine what went wrong? Do we have enough forensic capabilities to make a determination?
Our toxicology capacity has to be boosted as part of our monitoring mechanisms of the quality of health care.
The Guyana Medical Council has to get its act together. More doctors and nurses have to be penalized. I will come back to this another day. Doctors are getting away with murder and little is being done.
As of now, GPHC has the leeway and moral responsibility to find the answers to the questions being asked by grieving families. People are upset. We cannot tolerate that.
Our constitutional bodies, police, commissions and other entities have been showing that they understand their mandates.
The decision of the Local Government Commission this past week on Royston King and the ruling of the Speaker of the National Assembly on the no-confidence vote, are examples of independent thinking.
So yes, the GPHC has to understand we are watching. We have to get it right.

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