TTUTA wants ministry to relocate South East PoS school

TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) president Antonia Tekah-De Freitas believes quick fixes at schools are just plasters on sores.

Her comments came after the Ministry of Education on Friday said concrete louvres are being installed at South East Port of Spain Secondary School (SEPOS).

Last November, a stray bullet from a shooting at upper Nelson Street entered a classroom, prompting this security feature from the ministry. The police and ministry confirmed that no one was hurt in the debacle.

Tekah-De Freitas said the school is in a "hot spot" community and wished the ministry would consider relocation.

She said, “Why wouldn’t the ministry and stakeholders consider relocating the school?

“In the time that school was established the level of crime was not as it is now. Considerable discussions have taken place at the level of parents, students, TTUTA and teachers about relocating the school.”

Tekah-De Freitas noted the shootings in Port of Spain on December 31 that left four people dead and one boy injured and said this is an additional reason for moving the school.

She said, “It is no longer a safe teaching and learning environment. Yes, there will be a cost attached to relocation but that cannot be weighed against the life of someone.

“In the two weeks that the anticipated remedial works will be done, the fifth and sixth forms students will be housed at former John Donaldson Technical Institute. So, we do have structures available to accommodate the students.”

Tekah-De Freitas said this temporary fix creates problems in other areas, and it is not the way in which issues like this should be tackled.

She said, “In terms of preventing penetration of projectiles, it may be (a solution). However, it creates other problems, such as poor lighting and air circulation. So, we return to a previous situation.

“I would hope the ministry would also consider creating a comfortable environment by providing air condition units and extra lighting.”

Additionally, Tekah-De Freitas said the current environment poses a threat to the students and teachers' mental health.

“Their stress levels are high. It impacts on their productivity and performance. Yet, the expectation is that they perform exceptionally.

“As you would expect, it would impact on teaching and learning contact time. The longer the students stay away from school, the more difficult it is to deliver the curriculum, in a proper manner.

She said not only are there security threats, there are also other safety issues, such as electrical and infrastructural.

Tekah-De Freitas has called on the minister to sit with TTUTA to plan for the upcoming academic year.

“The ministry needs to move away from saying they don’t have enough money. They need to prioritise education and make sure the money is also well invested in infrastructure,” she said.

She bashed the ministry for not having planned infrastructural maintenance and noted that this happens too often. De Freitas said Couva West Secondary and Edinburgh Government Primary School are not the only schools that have issues.

She said, “The ministry does not have a consistent and comprehensive maintenance plan, because the issue with the leaking roof did not just occur overnight.

“While at Edinburgh Government Primary School health officials have deemed the school safe, there are other remedial works to be done.

“Union/Claxton Bay Secondary School, Princes Town Presbyterian Primary School and Manzanilla Secondary School also have pressing issues.”

The ministry has indicated that Couva West Secondary School will not reopened on Monday as planned.

Edinburgh Government Primary School has additional problems such as leaking roofs, mould infestation and other issues, which the ministry said is being properly dealt with before students and teachers return.