–parents assisting headteacher

BARACARA Nursery School Headteacher Kim Sampson has complained that the school is in dire need of teachers and parents have been called in to assist.Aside from this, she lamented that the boat donated by President David Granger a few months ago has not been put into operation.

Baracara is situated some 65 miles away from New Amsterdam. It is a forested area which can only be accessed by boat, a journey that can take as long as six hours, depending on whether a passenger uses a paddle or a motorised vessel along the Canje River in East Berbice/ Corentyne.

During a visit to the community on Wednesday, the Guyana Chronicle learnt that the primary and nursery schools are housed in the same building and collectively, they have a population of 83 pupils, with only two teachers.

Currently, there is a shortage of teachers: One is on a special appointment, and another on maternity leave, resulting in parents having to assist in the nursery school.

With respect to the primary school, Sampson said a teacher was transferred, and another was expected to assist with the Grade One and Two levels.

But instead of doing so, the teacher applied and got through at the Cyril Potter College of Education, even though she was not released by Sampson.

The teacher in question reportedly told her superiors that she cannot allow the two years to go wasted, and has opted to attend classes at the teachers’ training college.

As a result, the headteacher has to manage Grades Three to Six, which accounts for four classes, while the other teacher is tasked with teaching Grades One and Two.

Headteacher Sampson said she was advised to seek persons to teach the children, even though they may not have Mathematics and English Language, but so far she has found no one.

Meanwhile, the motorised vessel donated by President Granger to ferry children to the lone school in the Canje River is yet to be put into operation because of the inavailability of licensed captains.

This newspaper has learnt that while there is no immediate need for the vessel, since parents would walk through the trail with their children during the dry weather, it would be much needed during the rainy weather when the trail is flooded.

Several persons had applied for the position of captain/driver, but none of them was certified.

The school is tasked with making a shed for the boat, but parents are currently unable to raise the money to build it as they are unable to access profitable

markets for their produce.