Open Ste Madeleine Primary School

DISGRUNTLED parents have sent an SOS to Education Minister Hazel Manning for the new Ste Madeleine Government Pri-mary School to be opened to students who have been housed at the nearby Petit Morne Community Centre for several months. President of the Ste Madeleine Parent/Teachers Association (PTA), Victoria Gumbs, said when the Education Ministry decided to rebuild the school, it was first promised that inconvenience to students and teachers would be for 11 months. “But this was not so. It has now been three years since the decision was made to rebuild the school and students are still housed in cramped conditions at the community centre. Inside is like an oven,” Gumbs complained.

The irate woman added that the new school was completed on June 14, and the ministry has not informed PTA executives of the reason why the building has not been opened. “There are rumours the school’s sewer system was failed by the Water and Sewerage Authority and also the keys for the school are nowhere to be found. But I just do not know,” she added. Gumbs urged the minister to personally get involved because students were getting a poor quality of education since students and teachers were being affected by the heat inside the community centre. “We would like to get into the school within the next two weeks because it has been way too long and I don’t think the children can cope any longer in their present location. The ministry just “sticking” and there is no reasonable explanation.

Not even the principal is getting answers as to the reason for the long delay,” Gumbs said. A disgruntled grandparent confirmed his grandson could no longer cope with the heat in the centre and would not be going back out until the new school opens. “I hold Hazel personally responsible for my grandson’s education, or lack of it,” the angry man said. “The place is like an oven. A few noisy fans on the ceiling is hardly enough to properly ventilate the centre and the children regularly complain of feeling extremely tired, dehydrated and dizzy,” another parent said. Attempts to reach the minister, who returned to this country earlier in the week after accompanying her husband, Prime Minister Patrick Manning, to the United States, proved futile. Communications specialist at the ministry, Mervyn Critchlow, could not be reached for comment.