Siparia parents protest school's closure

STACY MOORE

Parents of the Siparia Union Presbyterian School are demanding answers from the Education Ministry on how much longer their children will be kept away from classes.

Parents protested outside the gates of the school on Friday, saying they will continue to do so until construction resumes on the new school building.

As they marched through the streets, parents chanted, “We want our school right now!”

“Enough is enough. We are frustrated and need answers now,” said PTA president Riad Niamath.

He said parents were waiting too long for answers. He said it made no sense for the Government to spend money on a temporary structure when the funds could go towards finishing the new school.

Phase one of construction of the Siparia Union Presbyterian School stopped in September 2015. Minister in the Ministry of Education, Dr Lovell Francis, in a previous interview, said that 90 percent of the new school building was completed and the school remains one of the ministry’s top priorities. On October 2, an electrical fire started at the school’s compound forcing the school to be closed.

Niamath said Standard Five classes were being affected.