Parents: Why was Caigual RC closed?

The 12 students who attend the school have therefore been forced to remain at home since most parents are unable to afford sending their children to schools in the Sangre Grande or Manzanilla area.

A concerned parent Jeewan Ramkissoon told Newsday that no form of consultation with the parents was attempted by either the Education Ministry or the Catholic Board of Education.

“We were informed in July that the school may be closed but there was no consultation by either the ministry or the board. We had a meeting with ministry officials and members of the Catholic board, but no agreement was made.”

“Caigual suffers from transport problem and due to the bad roads, the Government refuses to send buses. This is an additional cost to low earning parents,” said Ramkissoon.

He added that the school’s small student population was not a valid reason to close the school as other schools had less children.

“They did not give the newly appointed principal time to work in the community. Caigual is a small community with no transport and no land line communication. Sangre Grande is almost eight miles away but it would be very expensive to pay for transport. We really hope that the Prime Minister gets involved in this,” said Ramkissoon. He added that the school was the village’s only governmental link after the post office was taken away. “This is absurd. It is an attack on the village. We want a reverse decision right now,” said Ramkissoon.

Another parent whose child was supposed to sit next year’s Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination said many of the parents were economically deprived with the school’s closure putting a heavier burden on them.

“I look at the children and see them suffering to get transport. I encouraged the parents to send their children to the school even though it was closed and they would be given lessons. However, they have since locked the school preventing us from entering,” said the parent.

He added that he has since taken the student’s plight to the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) and has also made calls to the Office of the Prime Minister.

“What the ministry is doing is playing hard to bargain with. These parents live on welfare and work in the cocoa estate. They are low income people. To hire a car to go into Caigual would cost $50 one way,” said the parent.

TTUTA Second Vice-President Orville Carrington said the association was aware of the situation as a meeting was held with the ministry at the end of last term where the issue was raised.

Officials at both the Education Ministry and the Catholic Board of Education could not be reached for comment yesterday.