– engineer to assess building as minister pledges urgent action to restore a safe, conducive learning environment
SAFETY, accessibility and comfort remain the top priorities for Guyana’s children and educators, as Minister of Education, Sonia Parag, conducts her latest assessment of Zeeburg Secondary School.
The minister visited the school on Tuesday, where she assessed infrastructural issues with the building. The visit highlighted the scale of the structural challenges which have caused the school to evacuate ten classrooms normally used to house the school’s lower forms. Following her engagement with students, teachers and regional education officials, the minister stated that steps will be taken immediately, with an engineer slated to come to the school within days. Speaking to members of the media following the visit, the minister noted that works will begin as soon as possible, as the ministry remains committed to creating and ensuring a safe and conducive learning environment for the nation’s children.
The Tuesday morning visit stemmed from concerns raised by the school’s headmistress and other persons, the minister shared. The concerns highlighted the school’s eastern wing and a number of other rooms and facilities within the school that are in need of remedial work. Speaking on the reason for her visit, minster Parag added, “It is as a result of issues raised by the school itself, the HM and others, in relation to structural issues or issues regarding the structure of the school, and there are concerns that have been raised in the last few days in relation to the state of one of the wings of the school.” The concerns voiced resulted in the minister making an in-person visit to the school, “That wing is on the eastern side of the school, so I am here taking a look at that particular wing and also several other rooms that may have issues and where we have found some other issues,” she said.
Moreover, Minister Parag noted that prior to school opening, she had advised regional officials and the regional education officer, in collaboration with the school’s headmistress, to hold a consultation with teachers and parents to create a schedule to have the affected students placed in another part of the school. As the minister explained, students who were occupying the wing were moved to another part of the school and are being taught in a shift system. “Those who would have been occupying that wing, so they can move to another building in the school, and it is on a shift system, so some of the grades are coming in the morning and some of the grades are coming in the afternoon, and so we do not want to disrupt the learning process and ensure that they are still being taught in the classroom, as well as catching up with what their curriculum has. I do not want that to stop for them at all,” she said.
Currently, the ministry is working towards having an engineer visit the school on Thursday. Giving insight into the scale of the damage to the school, the minister noted that visible cracks and damaged beams were highlighted as major challenges. Thursday’s visit by the engineer is aimed at producing a report that the ministry can then use to carry out the needed remedial works on the building. Parag noted, “We will have that structural engineer come on Thursday, do an evaluation or an assessment, create a comprehensive report on what needs to be done based on his expertise and based on what he has seen. Then we will take action after that in relation to whatever remedial action has to be taken in relation to the structure and the building,” she said.
The minister noted that while preventative measures, such as the evacuation of the classrooms, have ensured that no students or teachers have been harmed, returning the children to their classrooms and resuming the normal flow of school remains a key focus. As she noted, “We want them to be able to be in school for the hours that they are supposed to, so that they can be taught their curriculum the way they are supposed to be taught. But I want to thank the teachers, because they have been integral in making this decision, and also being a part of ensuring that the students are catching up on their curriculum for the first week,” During the visit, Minister Parag also committed to providing additional resources, including fans and new library shelves. Moving forward, the minister assured that urgent action will be taken, adding, “For the upcoming weeks we will be making the decision on what to do, but urgent action will be taken once that report is brought to us.”
