MORE than 100 students of the New Amsterdam Secondary School (Multilateral) are seeking to be transferred to the Berbice High School (BHS) because of their dissatisfaction with the ‘Multi’ teachers’ performances.

During the Region 6 Democratic Council (RDC) statutory meeting, Chairman of the Regional Education Committee, Mr. Zamal Hussain, told Regional Chairman Mr. David Armogan and the councillors that the Education Department has been ordered to deny the students their request.
Armogan noted that if the parents of the students who attend ‘Multi’ should remove their children from that school, there soon may be no need for the school. “We cannot allow that,” he lamented.

At the same forum, Alliance For Change (AFC) Regional Councillor Ms. Donna Mathoo said that one of the reasons why parents want to move their children from that learning institution is because teachers are not doing what they are being paid to do.

“Teachers are not going to the classroom, despite several appeals that have been made by regional official, including the Regional Education Committee,” she declared as she noted that administrative issues at ‘Multi’ result in a constant struggle between the principal and his deputy.

“It is so bad that they did not make a timetable for the students’ year-end test…. The children were given three tests per day without prior knowledge (of the subject they were to write).”

Armogan conceded that the rift between the senior staff may be the contributory factor. “Nevertheless”, he said, “we can’t allow that school to go down…. New Amsterdam Multilateral School is the number one school in Berbice, and a new school board will be appointed to address the concern.”

Armagon said the CXC results from ‘Multi’ have, over the past decade, equalled those of senior secondary schools in the capital of Georgetown. The results have not been showing any decline, it is just a discipline problem, because when you look at the results, they are still number one,” he said.

Speaking further, Armogan said that the teachers are not pulling their weight, and that issue must be addressed with some degree of urgency.

He noted that, for the next school term, there could be a new administration at the school, and he further noted that the current board was recently charged with the responsibility of implementing ‘new measures.’

While he did not say what the measures were, he stressed that tough decisions will have to be taken.

“Whatever it takes to bring the school under control we will have to do!” he emphasised.
Armogan noted that whatever those decisions are, the administration will support them.

Meanwhile, other issues highlighted in the Regional Education Committee report were the vigilance of head teachers when distributing textbooks to students, and the necessity of having a police outpost in the Vryman’s Erven community.