Teachers give officials

Still disappointed with the conditions at St George’s College, teachers have told the school’s administration they have until September 17 to get their act in order.

But Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly is seeking to assure them things will get better.

However, the hum of the air conditioning units at the back of the school near the laboratory block, coupled with the chatter of students could have given the impression all was finally well at the college in Barataria yesterday.

However, upon closer inspection, it became clear something was not quite right. At the front of the school, a teacher was conducting classes not in a classroom but out in the open. The doors in other classroom blocks were wide open with the fans in the rooms off, and some children attempting to cool themselves by flapping their textbooks to generate breeze.

Initially, the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) said there was no electricity in parts of the school. This was confirmed by one teacher who spoke anonymously, while another only exclaimed “Oh Lord!” when asked how conditions were inside.

The institution, which has been unoccupied for almost two years to facilitate repairs to its roof and other infrastructure, welcomed students in Forms One and Two on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday, the rest of the school population returned. It had been hoped that by then, the school would have been in a state of readiness for a smooth restart to teaching the other students.

TTUTA had expressed pessimism that this deadline would be met and yesterday, first vice president Adesh Dwarika lamented that their sentiment was correct.

“It was not a statement I made just like that, I was looking at the volume of work that needed to be done to allow for curriculum delivery and based on my experience of 32 years as an educator, it would have been difficult for that to happen with the limited resources that I am seeing,” Dwarika said.

He told Guardian Media there were still a plethora of issues at the school, even after $10 million was spent by the State to fix the issues.

“The rooms are very hot, and the teachers are starting to complain about the heat in the classrooms, because we have about 30 students in a class together with the teacher. Some of the ACs are not working…There are no phone lines for the school, no Wi-Fi and no school bell at this time,” Dwarika revealed.

He added that the laboratory classrooms were still not ready for curriculum delivery, as several pieces of equipment were still in boxes.

When Guardian Media was outside the school’s compound, a truck arrived filled with desks and other equipment. Some of these may have come from their former temporary home at the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s Valsayn campus.

“TTUTA is obviously disappointed because our issue is the health and safety of students and teachers. However, we had two years to prepare, we knew that we were coming across from UTT and yet due diligence was not done to ensure the school was in a state of readiness for total and safe occupation,” Dwarika argued.

It’s why he said a letter was delivered to the school’s acting principal yesterday, warning that while they will be patient, there will be a limit.

“We believe in collaboration and giving them some time. So the process will be followed and the staff rep would have informed the acting principal today in writing of a time and date to address the issues. When those issues are not addressed, further action will take place,” Dwarika said.

However, a representative of the school’s Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) said while they sympathise and want the best for the teachers, the reality is that there are many other schools in a worse condition. “When they came in they said they will fix as they go along. This week was for them (students) to familiarise themselves with the school, remember they have been away for almost two years, so you just want them to get back in and to settle, and things will go on as time goes by,” PTA rep Cassandra Singh explained.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Gadsy-Dolly sought to assure concerned parents and teachers that the school was still in the process of settling in.

Gadsby-Dolly said, “This academic year, there are at least four schools settling into new locations. St George’s College is one of them. The Facilities Department, MTS, and the contractors are still involved in the process and will provide support to the school until completion.”

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