GOVERNMENT will guard jealously the safety, happiness and well-being of the country’s children, Minister within the Ministry of Finance Mr Juan Edghill has said.The minister was at the time referring to recent protest actions by some parents of students attending the Christianburg Primary School in Linden. The protest action came as a result of claims by the parents that the school was sinking. However, according to Minister Edghill, the issue is being dealt with by the regional administration, and the protest action was politically motivated.

“We will never do anything, policies or operational wise, to endanger the nation’s children or any individual child,” Minister Edghill pointed out during a programme on the National Communications Network (NCN) in Linden on Wednesday.

According to the Government Minister, immediately after the complaint was made to him, (via television programme), he contacted the necessary ministry responsible for the maintenance of the school, the Local Government and Regional Development, and Education Ministries.

The next day, there was a protest at the school, led by a Member of Parliament of Region Ten, and subsequently the Regional Executive Officer (REO), the Regional Education Officer and other regional officers engaged the parents to discuss the scenario.

“There was no concern of any broken limbs. The issue took a political twist, and rather than dealing with the issue at hand and ensuring that the children attend school and are positioned in a healthy and safe environment…a solution was found because there was another school that was built not too far away from the community to accommodate several hundred children, but it was not using up half of its capacity, so there was room to accommodate these children, while the issue was being rectified,” Minister Edghill stated.

The minister pointed out that while there was an agreement being made with the parents, there was agitation coming from political quarters, to politicise the matter, and that is dangerous, because the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) is scheduled to be written next week.

“…I don’t understand how people who claim to be political leaders in a community will disrupt the learning process of children…there is a sinister plot at work. While the parents would want their children to be safe, there are others who used the matter and exploited it politically,” Minister Edghill stressed.

He congratulated the regional administration for acting promptly and professionally, and seeking to bring about solutions to the matter.

However, as of March 24, some 89 children were back in the same building. The school has a population of 100 students. (GINA)