NPTA: Stay away from school

THE National Parent Teachers Association (NPTA) has advised parents to keep their children away from the La Romaine Secondary School which has been described as a fire hazard.

NPTA president Raffiena Ali-Boodoosingh told an emergency meeting of the school’s Parent Teachers Association (PTA) on Monday, it is the only way they can get the Ministry of Education to pay attention to what is happening at the Church Street school and fix the problems.

She said the ministry is not aware of the severity of the problems at the school and advised the parents to write a letter outlining the ills and their concerns. She has promised to pass on the letter which was written and sent to her by email on Monday night, to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary for action.

Teachers walked off the compound on May 29 on the advice of the TT Unified Association (TTUTA) after the electoral inspectorate submitted a report outlining electrical violations in almost every room in the building. A termite infestation was subsequently discovered on the compound.

The school’s PTA called for the premises to be shut down for a few weeks to have the problems fixed before the opening of the new school term. Despite the teacher walk out, students have been attending school, but are left unsupervised.

Students have also been attending to write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the National Certification of Secondary Schools (NCSE) exams.

The emergency meeting became fiery when parents demanded to know if TTUTA and OSHA were sanctioning the teachers walk out, what about the safety of their children. The principal told the meeting he could not authorise the closure of the school. He said only OSHA had that authority. However, OSHA is awaiting a report from the EFCL before it can make its final recommendation.

Comments

"NPTA: Stay away from school"

More in this section