Faced with eviction, Rio Claro school protests for repairs

YVONNE WEBB

FACED with eviction from the mosque they had been occupying for the past five months, parents and students of the Rio Claro Asja Primary School staged a peaceful demonstration this morning to get their school repaired.

From the school building about 50 demonstrators marched through the streets with placards, chanting, “We want our school fixed,” ending in front of the Ministry of Education’s Rio Claro office.

The protesters were debarred from entering the building and security guards told them to leave, then called the police.

President of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) Veda Maharaj, who led the protest, said the police were very understanding and allowed them to be interviewed by the media before dispersing.

Before the protest, Maharaj said she was approached by the school’s principal Abzal Abdool and an MTS engineer who said a contract had been awarded to repair the school and work will begin tomorrow. That promise failed to stop the protest, as Maharaj said, “We heard that before and (only) when we actually see work being done would we be satisfied.”

Maharaj explained the action was spurred on by the pending eviction of 100 students from the mosque by May because the building has to be prepared for the observance of Ramadan.

Maharaj said the first year, second year, standards one, two and three students have been housed at the Rio Claro Mosque after the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) shut down the school because of structural problems and health and safety issues. Standards four and five students are at the Rio Claro Presbyterian School.

The work requires replacing the entire ceiling and roof, which are filled with bat droppings, as well as upgrading the electrical system.

Maharaj said the PTA had been clamouring for months to get the school fixed without success and although she did not have the full support of the PTA because of its peaceful demeanour, the protest was a last resort.

“We had no choice, because letters sent to the Asja Primary School Board received no official or unofficial response.

"Minister in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis said efforts were being made to fix the school, and MP Rushton Paray promised to raise the matter in the Parliament.

"We kept getting promises but no commitment to a timeline.

"We need this repair completed before May or else our children would be home indefinitely again.”

After OSAH closed the school, she said students were kept at home for approximately six weeks before the decision to split the school in two.

She said the mosque is less than adequate.

“The area is small. Five classes are cramped in that space. It is hot, it is noisy, there are insufficient toilets, insufficient security.

"In addition, children have limited time for teaching because it is just four full days for the week and three hours on a Friday to accommodate the Friday prayer at the mosque."

The children at the Presbyterian school also face challenges: "They have been uprooted from their environment. They are forced to go to in an environment with a different culture, different codes of conduct. They have limited lunchtime and playtime.

"There isn’t another institution in Rio Claro to house our children, but they need a place to go before May.”