VICE-President and Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock, and a team from that Ministry, including his advisor Mervyn Williams and his Personal Assistant, visited the Port Kaituma Secondary School last Friday, and interacted with the teachers and students.Most teachers at the Port Kaituma Secondary School, it was learnt, are from the coastland.

Those teachers are calling for special attention to be paid to their wellbeing, and for a playing field that is equal to what obtains for teachers on the coastland.

Numbering 27 in total, 10 of those teachers are trained, while four are attending the University of Guyana. Their combined experience exceeds 50 years.

FINANCIAL STRAIN

Students of the school called on government to engage relevant donor agencies and other bodies to establish a branch of the University of Guyana in Region One. This, they said, would eliminate the need for their teachers to be away from the classroom to attend university, and would also ease the financial strain on travellers in and out of the area, which is a very costly undertaking.

They also contend that contracted teachers often have to wait for very long periods before receiving their monthly remuneration. That, in itself, places a strain on the teachers, who often have to borrow cash to fund their expenses; and when they are finally paid, most of their money has to go towards servicing debts.

A burning issue at the school is the absence of a dorm father for the school’s dorm, which houses children coming from other areas of the North West Region.
A teacher of the school has reportedly been forced to act as dorm father/supervisor, but he is not remunerated for his efforts. This teacher allegedly has to attend to the boys after a hard day’s work, besides preparing his lessons and ensuring proper sanitation of the dorm.

ADDED RESPONSIBILITY

The added responsibility comes with additional stress to this teacher, and some parents are very uncooperative with the man if he tries to caution students about malpractices and breaches of the school and/or dorm rules.

A retiree performs the duties of cook and cleaner for the dorm, and this is not favourably regarded by persons in the area, who claim that this person is often overwhelmed by the workload. They contend that the cook/cleaner would often complain of aches and pains about her body after standing for hours to prepare meals. Her situation was allegedly brought to the attention of regional authorities, but it remains unchanged thus far. For this reason, the children allegedly are often forced to make their own breakfast.

There is a general view that the regional administration has been very reluctant to address the issues of the school regarding welfare, dorm matters, and the general physical condition under which the teachers work and the children live.

The Port Kaituma Secondary School has a population of close to seven hundred students, one teacher explained, but refused to go on record or to entertain any other question pertaining to the operations of the school, as it was noted that they are not permitted to engage the media without permission of the Department of Education.

It was noted that the school has a generator, but that is operated mostly when officials are about to visit the school.
NO ELECTRICITY
At the moment, the school’s administrative building has no electricity, even though there are in excess of 30 brand new complete Dell computer systems locked in the Information Technology lab of the school, waiting to be used.
That situation, this publication was told, existed prior to the last general elections, and efforts are now being made to ensure that the children have access to computers in the new year.

The entire school building allegedly needs rewiring, and the Region One Administration is aware of this, as many reports have been made in that regard in the past.

When it rains, it pours in some classrooms, and when it comes to the school’s science lab, not much goes on there. This publication was able to witness that from a visit paid to those areas.

One Community/Teacher Association Member (formerly known as Parent/Teachers Association) explained that the last time the school saw electricity was a few weeks before elections, when the region had refuelled the generator at the school and put on the more than 30 computers to have the children take a photo opportunity. The school has since been without electricity.
CONFLICTING REPORTS
There are also conflicting reports about the generator, one of which is that it is in dire need of fuel, but another report is that it needs a crucial component that has to be sourced in order for it to work.

The school, according to the CTA member, is also experiencing issues with poor performance of some children, and reference was made to a recent pass rate of 17.1% out of a class of 30 children who are in fifth form and are preparing to sit the CSEC Examinations next year.

Asked what may have been responsible for this low performance, the CTA member said that they were informed by the teachers at the school that absenteeism on the part of the children is one of the main factors.

Then there is the issue of not all members of the CTA cooperating with the teachers, and it is the view of the CTA member that the other villagers might be reluctant to cooperate with the teachers, since they are not from the Port Kaituma area. The teachers allegedly are always willing to ensure that they keep the children in line, and that reportedly constitutes a problem for residents of the area, because many do not pay interest in their children’s welfare at school.
OTHER BURNING ISSUES
Another burning issue at the school is the absence of technical vocational training facilities, something that President David Granger has been calling for since his assumption to office.

It is the view of the CTA that what is needed is great attention being paid to the area of technical skills for the children, so that those who are not academically inclined could develop expertise in a trade.

There is a building at the school which, in years gone by, functioned as the technical vocational training facility, but that has literally long been abandoned and has been taken over by rodents, insects and certain animals. This publication was able to see this first hand during a visit there.

Minister Allicock informed his audience that the government does disburse funds to the regional administration to assist with the maintenance of the schools and other building in the region.

He declared it a shame that teachers and students have to dwell under deplorable conditions at the school, and he promised to raise the issue with the subject minister.

Additionally, on the issue of the computer lab and the computers, the VP said that within the new year, the school is expected to be able to use the equipment, since government was briefed on the issue and efforts are in the pipeline to make the lab operable.