Protest at rundown Brasso Seco school

Angry residents, concerned parents and members of the North Coast Community Council yesterday held a protest about the dilapidated and rundown condition of the Brasso Seco Roman Catholic Primary School. The residents and school children chanted and slammed placards in the hope of receiving a hearing from the ministry of Education and the Catholic School Board. Some parents told Newsday they would keep their children at home until further notice.

“We have no current here and no library,” Owen Charles, president of the community Council said. “We want to be treated as others in other communities.” The parents said computers were given to the school, but because there was no electricity at the school the principal had to keep them at his house. Twenty children were seen sitting in classes while the protest took place outside. Principal Joachim Pacheco refused to comment on the action.

Young and old showed up to express their grievances on behalf of the school and the community. Sr Catherine McComie, who is in charge of primary schools at the Catholic Education Board, told Newsday a new building was “long overdue.” She said the school was one of the older schools in the country, admitting that it may be the only one without an electricity supply.  McComie explained that the board had been promised a new school by the Ministry of Education for more than ten years, but the ministry continually blames the Board for not rebuilding the school. She said designs for the new school were still in the hands of architects.
 
The bathrooms were redone about five years ago and were in a better condition than the actual school, said McComie. She added that the community did not need a million-dollar school because of the small population of students. She said the matter had constantly been on “the front and back burners” of the board. The last time the matter was raised she said, was just before Christmas. “A new school is long overdue. It was one of the first hurdles I met when I started at the Catholic Board about 11 years ago.” Mervyn Chrichlow, communication specialist at the Ministry of Education, was unavailable for comment.