– so say students
HAVING READ all the recent horror stories, I was more convinced than ever that my decision to opt to send my daughter to Queen’s College instead of President’s College all those years ago, despite then Minister of Education, Deryck Bernard, and her honorary aunt, Laxhmie Kallicharran, doing their best to persuade me differently, was a right one. Having visited the institution and spoken to some students and house-parents made me regret my decision to send my child to what was then a ‘snob-city’ instead of the home-away-from-home that I have discovered President’s College to be.

Warm-hearted, caring, very loyal to the institution that they serve, and very loving to their charges, the house-parents ensure that the children’s welfare is placed paramount; and while they maintain discipline, they expend affection in equal measure.

Some students enjoying a game of basketball

The institution that is being depicted as a horror-house in some sections of the media is, instead, a place of great happiness, which provides the children the requisite environment to enhance their overall development as good human beings above all, as well as the premier scholars that they are.

Housefather, Mr. John Forde, was incensed when he spoke about the false stories that he has seen in the local media about the institution that he serves and loves. He pointed out to me trestles with tanks for every storey in the dorm, as well as the man responsible for maintenance in the facility, who was in the process of pumping water to refill the tanks, and assured me that the pump attendant ensures that every area is provided with water.

Mr. Forde said that since the well became dysfunctional, the institution has been receiving water from GWI through the village, and that it is only in rare instances, such as when they have blackouts for lengthy periods, that water cannot be pumped up to the dorms. That is when the children have to fetch water for their baths in buckets from the tank in the yard.

Others having a jolly good time either strolling with a friend, playing a game of cricket, or just lounging on one of the sewage pipes.

Mrs Shurcina Hope-Hinds, the administrator of House Services and Student Welfare, endorsed what Mr. Forde said.

She said that like any building or institution, even private homes, there is some wear-and- tear over the years, in some locations more than in others, but that there is always an attempt to rectify these problems whenever they occur, except that in some instances, bureaucracy may delay the process somewhat.

She is convinced that there could be problem-resolution without making the children suffer and without traumatizing them when they most need support – which is the time when they are writing examinations. She feels that the children’s needs should take priority over any other consideration.

When I enquired about the general behaviour of the children, Mrs Hope-Hinds smiled in retrospective affection – the expression any fond mother would wear on speaking of their children: Wry exasperation and fond indulgence. She said that like in every home with siblings, they would tease each other, but that the loyalty, camaraderie and affection between batch-mates was very strong. She said the love and shared experiences in President’s College, more than at any other institution, is bridging the racial and other divides beautifully because, while children are encouraged to celebrate their different cultures and religions, they all share in each other’s celebrations and have learnt to respect each other for the individual person that each one is, and to bond accordingly, with lifelong and enduring friendships forged between students hailing from one end of the country to another.

The road leading to the College

Knowing of the sexually venturesome proclivities of the adolescent, I asked Mrs. Hope-Hinds how the house-parents deal with this issue. In response, she assured me that no situation is allowed to develop to the extent where there is a possibility of crossing acceptable lines of behaviour.

She said that even if in fondness, a male classmate puts his arm around the shoulder of a female classmate, they are discouraged from so doing by the house-parents, because, although the students protest that they mean nothing by such actions, the adults are aware of the volatility of the situation, where an innocent act, if left unchallenged, can lead to greater liberties being taken. House-parents are stringent in their supervision to avoid such situations from developing; so the children are aware of the limits placed on their interaction with each other, and adhere to the imposed sanctions, while still building and maintaining great friendships.

According to the primary house administrator, there is a time-tabled schedule, where the younger students are counseled by the counseling faculty, headed by Ms Mercylene Patricia Moses, and warned of the consequences of indulging in actions that are not conducive to an acceptable school environment.

The older children seek readily-available advice from the counseling department, based upon their own individual needs and unique situations.

A nurse-medex lives in the facility to provide emergency treatment for minor illnesses, or to make referrals in the instances of major ones.

How do they cope with indiscipline? According to Mrs. Hope-Hinds, while there are rare incidences of incalcitrance by newcomers, these are soon smoothed out by the gradual integration process, as the new students absorb the hallmarks of behavioural paradigm practiced by the older students.

One of the “nice-looking” dorms which house live-in teachers and their families (Photos by Sonell Nelson)

The occasional mild infractions of the rules are punished by the culprit having to single-handedly tidy up the dormitory – a chore all the students share in equal measure. Mrs. Hope-Hinds says that even when the students occasionally make her angry, she ends up laughing at their convoluted explanations for their misdemeanour, even while she reprimands and admonishes them from repeating the action, which always elicits repentance and over-exaggerated promises of future saintly behaviour. She says that although there is down-sizing, the children have adequate supervision and are not short-changed in their care in any way.

While my attention was focused on her, hers was focused on the children on the playground, especially one agile ‘little monkey’, whom she admonished for dangling by his feet from the swing.

Children are encouraged to pray, as per the customs of their individual religions, before beginning the day’s activities, and then they make up their beds, have breakfast, then set off for their respective classrooms.

My experiences over the years have taught me not to take at face value anything that persons whom I do not know say, so I spoke to the students themselves – selecting those hailing from different parts of the country, of both sexes, of every race, and of the various age ranges. The enthusiastic responses of each child to whom I spoke validated everything that Mrs. Hope-Hinds said, and convinced me that all the horror-stories are deliberate attempts to misinform the public and to create mischief.

The students to whom I spoke come from Kamarang, from Union -Corentyne, from Bath Settlement, on the West Coast Berbioce, from Mahaicony, from Linden, from Lethem, from Bartica, from Georgetown, and from the Essequibo Islands and Coast. And they all said that they do not miss home, except for one first-former from Kamarang who said that while he enjoyed the food he got at PC, he sometimes misses his mother’s cooking. So I think it is wise that indigenous Amerindian fare should sometimes be added to the menu, so that the Amerindian children are not be deprived of foods familiar to their palate.

All the children I spoke to said they are very happy at PC and enjoy studying and living in the facilities provided, because the environment is conducive to enhancing personal development in every way.

They said that the peaceful, breezy atmosphere predisposes to long hours of quiet study, while recreational facilities provide many varied opportunities for engaging in sporting activities. There are also amenities provided to facilitate fun-filled activities for the younger ones.

The children all said that they enjoy the meals prepared and served by a very pleasant staff, and that provision is made for those with peculiar dietary needs and preferences, such as vegetarians.

During holidays, the facilities and surrounding areas are fumigated, so the children say that there is no need for nets because they are never bothered by mosquitoes, and that the environment and facilities are always kept clean and well-maintained.

Their dorms and the facilities provided within are very comfortable, according to all the children to whom I spoke, except that a few of the metal beds need replacing, preferably with wooden ones, because they have started to sink in the middle.

All the children said that they did not miss their homes at all, and that they would make the choice to attend PC again if given the opportunity.

On the way out, we passed the nice-looking houses provided the live-in teachers and their families, who enjoy free accommodation, free meals, free electricity, free water, free transportation, and so many other benefits — in cash and in kind, which leaves one to wonder in amazement why they should be having sit-ins, for whatever reason, especially at a crucial time like when students are writing examinations, even while claiming concern for the students’ welfare.

I am positive that the students’ welfare is not at risk, except from their teachers and some of the sixth-form students who have been influenced by their teachers to become politically active. It is abhorrent and unconscionable that teachers can use their political persuasion to subvert the operations of the institution to which they owe so much, to the detriment of the students to whom they owe even more, especially their care, dedication and commitment.

Abdicating their responsibilities at such a crucial time in the students’ academic life, which is the culmination of years of hard work and dedicated study, on ludicrous and self-serving grounds is a yardstick on which no teacher should be measured.

The issues for which they have been punishing the students in their charge are fourfold: (1) the 5% one-off payment provided to public servants to help with the appreciated cost of living; (2) promotion of two faculty members; (3) rehabilitation of the roof; and (4) the refurbishing of the Home Economic Department.

Of the four issues, the latter three, Board members say, were never brought to their attention, so their recent action is clearly politicking by holding the PC students to ransom, which is reprehensible and unconscionable, and thoroughly unprofessional conduct.

The students say that while two stoves in the ‘Home-Ec’ department are not working properly, there are two very functional ones which are adequate for tuition needs, as only one class at a time uses the facility.

PC teachers receive, in terms of remuneration and benefits, overwhelmingly much more that the average teacher and other public servants, and they are given their annual increment, yet they begrudge their less-rewarded associates the one-off increase meant to cushion them from the impacts of an escalated cost-of-living.

For shame! Greed often causes persons to choke upon their own regurgitated matter, and politics has no place within an educational facility meant to enlighten the minds of the nation’s children, and to broaden the scope of their eventual functionality in a plural society.

And, as Mrs. Hope-Hinds puts it, media operatives who trash the institution go there with a mindset to see trash when only beauty exists. The premier institution, according to her, is a premier institution to the children, and that is what matters above every other consideration.