New school building for Chaguanas Government students in September

While most children will be getting only new books and school uniforms for the upcoming school term, students of the Chaguanas Government School, St Thomas Village, will be lucky three times over as they will get new books, new school uniforms and a new school.

This was  announced yesterday by President of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Glenn Cheddie, following a meeting at the Ministry of Education, St Clair, with Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Education Thecla Reyes, and Director of Educational Planning, Jennifer Hussain. A small group of parents and children gathered outside the Ministry’s Hayes Street entrance yesterday, to protest the dilapidated conditions of the 67-year-old school building in which they were currently being housed. Cheddie said the school had been condemned by the Ministry of Works, as well as Public Health Inspectors. “The roof cannot take another nail in it,” claimed Cheddie, adding that “teachers and children are going through the floor.” Following the half hour meeting with PS Reyes, Cheddie was all smiles as he conveyed to the parents gathered that they would no longer have to fear for the lives of their children, nor that of  the teachers.

Speaking to the media, PS Reyes assured parents that the relocation would take place in September, news which drew cheers and loud clapping from the gathering. Reyes admitted that there may have been a communication problem between the Ministry and the parents, and that as a result, the parents may have become anxious, thus leading to a picketing of the Ministry’s office. She added that the principal may have known of the decision, but that the parents may have been unaware. Cheddie revealed that the new school constructed at Orchard Gardens, Chaguanas was completed earlier this year, and had only been handed over to the ministry on Monday. The PTA would also like all parents to attend a meeting at the “old school” today  at 5 pm, so that other information can be passed to them.

In a release from the Ministry of Education yesterday afternoon, they confirmed that construction of the school was completed in June 2003, and that the new building would be able to accommodate 840 students. The Chaguanas North Government Primary School was constructed under the Fourth Basic Education Project, and the Ministry’s Education Project Coordinating Unit. The release further stated that the new school was easily accessible, as it is less than five kilometres in any direction from the four primary schools in the Chaguanas area. To ensure the easy transfer and relocation of these students, the PTA members assured that they would continue talking to representatives of TTUTA, the Educational Planning Unit, School Supervision, Curriculum and Facilities Management Division of the Ministry of Education.