Is it the end of Cheddi's dream of a consolidated High School?

Is it the end of Cheddi’s dream of a consolidated High School?

Jan 14, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – The destruction of the Christ Church Secondary School represents a tragic commencement to the New Year. The education sector has been rocked by this latest fire, and coming so soon after the destruction of a multilateral school and the St. George’s High School will further setback the Ministry’s plans.

The former Anglican School was established as secondary school as part of a PPP attempt in 1964 to merge the secondary departments of three primary schools. It proved a highly successful experiment as the school as grown in reputation over the past fifty-eight years.

The school has always had a tradition of being a school for the working class. It offered a quality education and in fact is rated among the top ten secondary schools in Georgetown.

It is known as an alma mater of former West Indian cricketer, Carl Hooper and former national footballer, Clyde Wooly Forde. Not as well-known was the role of one Clifton Mc Donald, who as Head Teacher helped make Christ Church Secondary School into one of the country’s respected educational institutions.

Most of the students of the school do not belong to the immediate catchment area. And this has almost always been the case with the school’s population being drawn from distant communities some as far as the East Coast Demerara and West Coast Demerara.

If this fact is quickly recognized, it should make easier the Ministry’s task of placing the school’s displaced student population. But this exercise is compounded by the fact that the Ministry of Education has closed two important schools within Georgetown which could have helped to absorb some of the students.

The authorities took a decision to close the Central High School and the Brickdam Secondary School which had a combined student population of close to 1,000 students. The Brickdam Secondary School was closed in 2016, reportedly because of deplorable conditions. The school has been abandoned and left to elements.

It was also touted that the building which housed the Central High School on Smyth Street was also in poor shape. Instead of the putting it in order, the decision was taken to merge the Central High School with St. Mary’s High School and to establish the New Central High School at the campus in Woolford Avenue.

It was a most interesting decision because the said Smyth Street location was renovated, no doubt to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. It has been converted into an administrative department of the Ministry of Education – perhaps the largest administrative building in the country.

Considering the size of that school, it was shocking that there was a need to expand the Ministry’s administrative arm to take over the entire precincts of the old Central High School in Smyth Street. In the age of computerization, it does raise questions as to why the Ministry opted to expand its administrative arm rather than downsizing or decentralizing it.

The Ministry of Education has limited options for placing the displaced Christ Church Secondary School students in schools in Georgetown. And this may be for the best because the sort of nightmare situation which has developed with traffic in the city should have long forced the authorities to limit the establishment of new schools, whether public or private, within the city.

The Ministry may have little choice but to revert to what was done with Brickdam Secondary School. It may be forced to place the teachers and students, of the now gutted Christ Church Secondary School, in schools nearer to their places of residence. So if a student, for example, is from Cummings Lodge, he or she can be placed at Cummings Lodge Secondary School, providing there are places in those schools.

This will not be welcomed by parents and teachers because some will argue that the new school may be of lower standard. And, of course, it will mean the loss of identity as students of Christ Church. But what other options are there?

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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Carl Hooper, Central High School, Christ Church Secondary School, Peeping Tom, St. George’s High School

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