Leaking roof halts exams at Siparia school

GCE exams at Siparia Senior Comprehensive School (SSCS) had to be suspended for over 20 minutes after pouring rain leaked through the roof of the school’s auditorium yesterday. The disruption occurred even as students of the burnt-out Palo Seco Secondary School took up temporary residence at the school after they were forced to stay home for almost seven weeks when a fire destroyed a large portion of their school. On April 7, a fire of unknown origin swept through the Palo Seco school, destroying the main class building and a number of wooden structures which housed the school’s administration and other offices.

After a number of failed starts, including a proposal to conduct classes under a tent, a decision was reached to resume classes at Siparia Senior Comprehensive School as some 600 SSCS students were expected to leave the school after having sat their GCE, CXC and CAPE examinations. The Education Ministry had also noted that students of both schools would have equal access to laboratories and workshops while teachers would be provided with adequate accommodation, facilities and security arrangements. However, SSCS PTA president, Hayden Bennett, said that students writing the GCE exams, and who would have normally been accommodated at Block E, experienced “serious disruptions in concentration” after water came pouring through the auditorium’s roof.