Teachers ignore safety risk to oversee exams

OUT of love and compassion for their students, teachers at the La Romaine Secondary School yesterday ignored instructions from their association to supervise Form Three students writing the National Certification of Secondary Schools (NCSE) exam.

Several teachers who walked out over health and safety violations on May 29, put aside their concerns and turned up at the Church Street school to ensure children had the requisite supervision to sit the exam. Members of the parent-teachers association (PTA) also contradicted claims from the Ministry of Education the day before that the exam was postponed on Tuesday owing to the absence of teachers. Sources at the school said the mathematics exam was held on Tuesday as scheduled and a teacher, Isahak Mohammed, and an on the job trainee teacher supervised it.

Yesterday, students sat the visual and performing arts exam and teachers, including the dance and Spanish teachers, as well as lab technicians, showed up to supervise them, a source said.

“We did it out of love for our students. They are the ones suffering,” a member of staff told Newsday. Teachers walked out on the instructions of the TT Unified Teachers Association on May 29 after a report from the electrical inspectorate to the principal identified numerous violations on the premises. In addition to the electrical violations, the Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) unit also found the school had a termite infestation.

OSH authorities said they are awaiting reports from the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) and the TT Electricity Commission (TTEC) before they submit their final report.

An official from the Ministry of Education said the EFCL was told to visit the school to “scope the project” but up until yesterday afternoon the EFCL had not shown up. Meanwhile parents gathered yesterday for an update, but neither the principal, Rajesh Sirjue, nor the vice principal was seen at the school.