COSTAATT STUDENTS PROTEST POOR CONDITIONS

From as early as 9 am, scores of red-shirted students, several carrying large placards, marched in front of the school’s building along the busy Pointe-a-Pierre Road. Student representative, Toy David, identified the unkempt toilet facilities as the major sticking point, saying that the sanitary bins had not been emptied for the past seven weeks. She said that in early April, part of the suspended ceiling had fallen in one of the classes, injuring several students.

“Nothing was done to rectify that situation and now the air-conditioning system is not fully functioning. The building becomes a sweat-box during the day,” David said.

David said the compound had also become overrun with stray dogs and students were in danger of being bitten whenever they have to use the library facilities. She also lamented the lack of working computers and internet access for students to do research for their studies.

“If our demands are not met, we are prepared to demonstrate in front of COSTAATT’s Port-of-Spain offices until someone in authority takes some kind of action on behalf of the students,” she said. COSTAATT’s president, Dr Donald Peters met with the students’ representatives yesterday to discuss their grievences.