PANDEMONIUM broke out at St Therese’s Primary School on Wednesday after a pupil reported that a fellow student had fallen into a septic tank in the compound of that institution.Hundreds of parents flocked Region 6 lone Grade ‘A’ Primary, which has a student population of over 900 students, in an effort to determine the whereabouts of their respective child/children.

Ranks from the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Fire Service, along with representatives of the Regional Democratic Council and the Department of Education, descended on the school’s Vryman’s Erven location as word of the ‘disaster’ spread like ‘wildfire’ in the Ancient County.

The police were forced to cordon off the area as the worried parents rushed over to the learning institution from various areas, forcing the relevant authorities to lock the gate in their quest to keep the situation under control.

The Fire Service ranks immediately commenced searching the septic tank, aided by a ‘junkie’. After about an hour, the searchers came up empty handed, and a physical count made of the students present on that day proved that all were accounted for.

The rumour reportedly began circulating during the midday break when a boy alleged seeing a fair-skinned student who was playing next to the well accidently fell into the opening.
The pupil alleged he had made failed attempts to rescue the child, and consequently alerted other students and teachers.

However, although the situation was classified as a rumour, immediate action was taken to seal the opening of the manholes in the school compound.

Certain persons have opined that “the child” may have been “a visitor from the spirit world”, and as such, parents are appealing to religious leaders to visit the learning institution in order to prevent a recurrence of the visitation.
Written By Jeune Bailey Vankeric