Hopes rise in Biche

Now, almost a decade later, the controversial Biche High School is set to get a new lease on life, courtesy the new UNC-led People’s Partnership Government.

It was Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh, who, shortly after taking office on May 28, announced that he intended to reopen the school as one of the main priorities on his agenda in the short term.

He acknowledged that the schoolchildren and residents in the rural district had suffered for way too long and insisted that the time had come to deliver on the party’s long-held promise.

At present, plans are on stream to reopen the facility at the start of the new school term in September.

The move, however, would be contingent on the outcome of a report which is currently before the Cabinet as well as other physical and environmental considerations at the site.

“It would be a good day for Biche,” new Member of Parliament for Cumuto/Manzanilla and Collin Partap declared on Wednesday.

Son of Harry Partap, former MP for the area, Partap said he was all too familiar with his father’s struggle to reopen the school and was glad that his dream may soon be a reality.

The elder Partap, he recalled, had often urged the former PNM Government to open the school during parliamentary debates and on the platform at public meetings and election campaigns. “It is something I really welcome wholeheartedly,” the elder Partap said in a brief interview.

He congratulated Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, under whose tenure as education minister in the UNC the school was built, and Dr Gopeesingh for his attempt to reopen the institution.

“Mrs Persad-Bissessar had taken all the necessary precautions at that time and when we came out of office the PNM refused to open the school,” he said.

The elder Partap said at the time of its construction, Biche High School was one of the most modern facilities of its kind in the country.

“I think it is long overdue,” he said, informing that the school was now within the purview of the Ortoire/Mayaro constituency.

Part of the then Secondary Education Modernisation Programme (SEMP), Biche High School was one of ten schools built during the UNC’s 1995-2001 term in office at a cost of some $30 million.

However, before its opening, rumours spread that there were oil and gas emissions at the site as well as evidence of land slippage.

A PNM-sanctioned commission of enquiry, chaired by retired Justice Annestine Sealey, concurred that the concerns were genuine, but seemingly workable.

Her 72-page report, though, which was handed in on October 16, 2002, made significant observations about the lack of action by firms employed in the school’s construction as regards its integrity.

Sealey had also stipulated that reports should have been studied in their entirety, especially those which recommended closure of the school for health and environmental reasons; that proper assessment of the soil conditions to address the issue of water in the soil undermining the support of the foundations; and that there be continuous air monitoring under the supervision and direction of the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and/or the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

The former PNM administration had refused to open the school on grounds that it was unsafe for usage.

On Wednesday, Sunday Newsday accompanied Partap on his first visit to the school to get a first-hand account of the scope of work.

He said Gopeesingh had updated him about the rehabilitation exercise.

“He said the school was being cleaned and an assessment was being done on what needs to be done structurally-wise,” said Partap, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister.

“Once that is done we are keeping our fingers crossed that we would have a September re-opening of the school and that will be of great benefit for the people of Biche and the constituency of Cumuto/Manzanilla as a whole.” Partap indicated that the school, perched atop a hill, would also be used for adult education and distance learning classes on afternoons and on weekends.

He regards Biche High School as a state-of-the-art institution.

“It was one of the newest and best in the country and the PNM refused to open the school because of fumes. Justice Sealey said that the fumes were at an acceptable level and that all the remedial work that needed to be done was the construction of a retaining wall,” Partap said.

The minister lamented that residents had suffered because of “pure political victimisation” on the part of the PNM for almost nine years.

Even Persad-Bissessar, during her stint as education minister, repeatedly defended the structure in the Parliament.

“Mr Speaker, earthquake came, storm came, floods came and that Biche High School is still standing today...It is still standing.

“But, it is the spite and malice of the PNM that have the children of Biche having to get up in the morning – four o’clock – to take bus and travel to far-out areas,” she had said while contributing to debate on a bill to amend the Education Act to allow for the transfer of teachers from the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission to the Teaching Service Commission in July 2005.Partap said the fact that the school appeared to be structurally-sound and that there was a strong likelihood that the school could be reopened in the next three months, spoke volumes for the UNC’s policies a decade ago.

“It is vindication on our part that the school that we built back in 2000, was sound and the necessary conditions were acceptable at the time,”said Partap.

Still, an immense task lies ahead if the September deadline is to be met.

Under the watchful eyes of two National Maintenance Training and Security (MTS) guards on Wednesday, a small group of workers employed by a contractor affiliated to the Education Facilities Company Limited (EFCL), the executing arm of the Ministry of Education, carried out various restoration exercises within the compound.

Parts of the paved roadway leading to the school remained cracked. But the overgrown bushes and weeds which had long covered portions of the school were cleared away, revealing wide open spaces.

Throughout the facility, wasps buzzed and there was evidence of intense corrosion as well as weather-beaten wooden louvres, particularly in designated laboratory areas.

Cracks were visible on several walls but the carpets remained in tact, surprisingly unaffected by the passage of time.

“This is a red letter day for the community,”said Biche/Charuma councillor Glen Ram, who also accompanied Partap on the visit.

Pleased that the school’s basic structure had largely remained sturdy, Ram said the atmosphere in the remote, agricultural community had changed from despair to hope, virtually overnight.

“We are happy. We knew that when the UNC Government came into power, we had said on the platform that this school will be opened,” he said.

Over the years, Ram said, students have had to get up as early as 4 am and travel to several far flung communities, including Manzanilla, Mayaro, Sangre Grande and Rio Claro, to get to school.

He said travelling to Rio Claro had proven to be problematic.

“At the Rio Claro West Secondary School, there is no transportation to get them to school and some parents pay as much as $30 a day. The children have really been suffering,” he said. Already, parents are hoping that their children could be transferred to Biche High if the school opens in September to ease their financial burdens, Ram said.

Elsewhere in the village, the feedback was overwhelming.

“It was a dream I always had,” said Albert “Buzz” Mc Kenzie whilst relaxing in his porch at the corner of Cunapo Southern Main Road and Gabriel Street.

“As a child, I always wanted Biche to have its own secondary school but with the last Government, I thought I would die before that happens.”

Others, he said, had completely given up hope.

“When something is not in existence, people accept it as normal,” said Mc Kenzie.

Focusing on the human implications of the proposed plan, Mc Kenzie, 71, said apart from getting more hours of rest at nights, children would also be able to participate in more social activities within their homes and in the wider community.

He said the situation would also foster greater community supervision.

“It would reduce the risk of school violence because here everybody knows everybody. Friction could be resolved easily,” he said.

“When students from Biche go to schools in other areas there is likely to be gang activity and the need to get rank.”

A vocal and respected member of the district, Mc Kenzie said parents would also be better able to participate more readily with their children’s scholastic lives.

“The school will then be a part of the community. And there are a lot of positive values that still remain,” he said.

Additionally, Mc Kenzie said, stress levels among parents would also decrease. “People would not have to study what would happen if a bus breaks down in the forest or if a child runs off with a taxi driver,” he said, adding that the anxiety among parents regarding the safety of children will be reduced.

Retired school principal Lewis Tom said the opening of the school would generally create less stress in the community. “The children would be nearer and parents would, in turn, feel safe,” he said. Like Ram, Tom expressed concern for the students who were not benefitting from the bus service, particularly on the Rio Claro route and noted that many students may soon be able to walk to school.

“This has been a cause for concern, especially where young girls are involved,” he said.

On the economic side, Tom said enterprising residents may be able to establish small shops at the school to either earn or supplement their existing income. At Sampath’s Shop, one of the district’s longstanding watering holes, regulars were also elated about the development.

“My grandchildren will now be able to sleep longer,” an elderly woman said with a broad smile.

She said several of her nieces and nephews were currently attending schools in other communities.

With the potential influx of teachers, the woman said the move would promote greater economic activity in the district.

“The place would be brighter and the businesses would get more sale,” she added.

The woman also said she felt the school would need additional security “because that spot is kind of lonely.”

Meanwhile, President of the National Parent-Teacher Association (NPTA) Zena Ramatali said the school should be opened, once there was no potential threat to the lives of students.

“If all the research was done and it came up that there is nothing wrong, then I see no reason why the school cannot be open,” she said.

“It is taxpayers’ money that built that school and once there is no threat to life and limb they should open the school for the benefit of the children in the community.”

President of the TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) Roustan Job agreed.

“We need to know that there is an all-clear on health and safety issues,” he said.

“There must be a report from the Environmental Management Authority that says the school can be occupied and that the land is stable and the cracks on the building and fumes are no longer there. We are hoping that all those things will be taken care of.”

Job said if the association’s concerns were not addressed, TTUTA will advise teachers to stay away from the school.