–Education Minister vows to rebuild

A MYSTERIOUS fire on Saturday destroyed a section of the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School in Georgetown, which housed the school’s First to Fifth-Form classrooms, Science, Home-Economics and Information Technology laboratories, as well as the school’s $3 million ‘smart’ classroom, the first to be launched in Guyana in 2015.

The Sunday Chronicle understands that the fire started sometime around 13:00hrs. Tiffany George, one of the two security guards on duty at the time, recalled that she was alerted to the fire by a man who was driving past the building.

“I was sitting in front here, and a guy driving a Canter came to the gate, and he told me, ‘Watch! The school on fire!’ So, when I look out, I see the fire coming out the roof, so I called for the other security, ‘cause she was at the back. I was at the front, ‘cause it does be two guards, right! One in the building, and one in front here!” George said, adding: “And I run to the back, and I tell she, ‘Watch! De school bu’ning down!’ And then I call my supervisors, and I told them about the fire; and we called the fire service and the police, and they came sometime after.”

She noted that about four teachers were in the school’s auditorium, which is housed in another section of the building. They were setting up for an event that was scheduled for later that afternoon, George said.
With the first day of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations just nine days away, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand described the fire as an “unspeakable loss”. She noted that the Education Ministry already has officers working to put systems in place to accommodate the school’s 65 students who will be sitting those examinations.

“To all the students of this school, I want to say to you now that your government is going to make arrangements to make sure your education is not interrupted; we’re going to put those arrangements in place immediately. In fact, there are officers presently in the Ministry of Education, working to determine where we are going to place the students for CXC to do their various exams,” Minister Manickchand said.

“All the students of North Ruimveldt Multilateral will be writing their CXC, and passing them. This is an extremely unspeakable loss here, but it’s one we will overcome. We are going to work very hard to ensure this does not disrupt students,” she added.

She said that the government is committed to rebuilding the school to ensure the continued commendable performance of its students. North Ruimveldt Multilateral Secondary School, which is categorised as a “List A” school, and regarded as one of the better schools in Georgetown, has an enrollment of 512 students, with a complement of 39 teachers.

Alison Cosbert, the school’s Headteacher who was at the scene of the blaze, stated that she is “hurt and shocked” at the horrific incident. She explained that she was not at the compound when the fire started, but quickly rushed over, once she received the news.

“I got a call from a past teacher that the building was on fire. As a matter of fact, I was at the hairdresser, and I ran out and I came,” Ms. Cosbert said, adding: “And when I came, at least it was three-quarter; and I’m standing here now, seeing it go up in flames. So, what else can I say?

“When you’re heading a school and a tragedy like this happens, it’s really devastating.”
When the headteacher and several teachers arrived on the scene, they removed the school’s important records to a secure location as a precaution, in case the fire spread to the other buildings in the compound.

Ms. Cosbert said that she plans to work along with the Ministry of Education to devise a plan on the way forward, for not just the students who are sitting the 2021 examinations, but also those students who will be returning to school, once the Health Ministry gives the go-ahead.
Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.