Ministry promises Palo Seco students a building ‘in days’

Amid threats of massive street demonstrations by parents of displaced students of the Palo Seco Government Secondary School, who are angry over the lack of temporary accommodations for the students, Education Ministry official Mervyn Critchlow yesterday told Newsday that temporary accommodations would be erected in a matter of days. Critchlow said the burnt-out rubble of the main building at the school was cleared and a temporary structure would be erected “in a few days” to accommodate the displaced students, some of whom are preparing to write CXC examinations.

He took issue with reports in the media regarding the Ministry’s response to the fire, saying whoever was feeding the media with information was giving wrong information. “I would like to ask you all to deal specifically with either the school’s principal or myself when seeking information,” Critchlow said. Asked to state which media was the offending one, Critchlow refused to do so. On April 7, a fire of unknown origin swept through the school, destroying the main building together with a number of wooden structures which housed the school’s administration and other offices. However, Form Five students, numbering 93, were allowed to resume classes following Easter holidays at the unburnt sections of the school, which included the school’s computer lab, woodwork, music, art and home economics rooms.

The Education Ministry and parents agreed that alternative accommodation was necessary to house the other students. At a PTA meeting recently, the vast majority of parents indicated a preference for the recently constructed regional complex to be used as a temporary site for classes. However, with two weeks already gone in the new school term, parents have expressed frustration with the Ministry’s slow pace at securing alternative accommodations and have threatened to take protest action. The Ministry’s corporate communications specialist, Hilton Braveboy, said parents agreed to the construction of a pre-fabricated building to house the students. He also said the building would be constructed at the existing school site, but said the Ministry could not give a definite date for start of construction.