Regional team visits school, makes several timely interventions

By: Indrawattie Natram
FOLLOWING the massive flooding that took place on Friday at the C.V Nunes Primary School, a team from the Region Two Regional Administration visited the school on Monday and met with parents and teachers. Heading the team was Region Two Chairman, Devanand Ramdatt, who was accompanied by Acting Regional Education Officer, Nicola Matthews; Regional Engineer, Kawan Suchit; Regional Vice Chairman, Nandranie Coonjah; and RDC councilors, Arnold Adams and Hardat Narine.

The team met with the headteacher, along with the president of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). An inspection was conducted around the school compound and necessary recommendations were made to the Regional Engineer, Kawan Suchit. Acting Regional Education Officer, Nicola Matthews, said that she was never informed about the flooding.

Region Two Chairman Devanand Ramdatt reminded teachers and parents that there is a channel of communication and if something needs to be communicated then it must be done through the Department of Education and then be dispersed to relevant authorities. Ramdatt said he learnt of the situation via the media and as such, his visit was to get a first-hand view. During the outreach, parents raised issues such as poor drainage, malfunctioning of toilets, repairs of windows and gutters as well as illegal vending in front of the school’s compound.

Immediately, the Chairman told the Regional Engineer to dispatch a team so that an assessment can be made in terms of improving the drainage system within the school. A worker will also be sent from the Regional Engineering Department to assist with the desilting of the drains.

In relation to the illegal vending, he said he will be seeking some intervention but advised that same be raised with the Anna Regina Town Council. Head of the school’s PTA, Rasheeda Persaud thanked the team for their timely visit and called for the problems, especially the illegal vending, to be fixed. She said the vending is having a negative effect on children, since the vendors are not abiding with sanitary rules.

Last Friday, several students went home after the school’s compound was flooded due to intense rainfall. The school has a population of 707 children.