Children at risk, unsupervised at school during repair work

Students at the La Romaine Secondary School are at risk, as they are at school unsupervised while electrical repairs are done.

As a result their parents want Minister of Education Anthony Garcia to shut down the school.

Parents said students attending school without supervision while electrical repairs are being done puts them at risk. They said no teaching is taking place and the children are roaming the building freely, including the areas being worked on. On Monday, a contractor with the Education Facilities Company Ltd started work to correct problems identified by the electoral inspectorate in almost every room of the school.

“This is unacceptable. Children are at risk. What if, God forbid, something should happen to one of them? Who is going to accept responsibility?" a parent asked.

Teachers walked out of the school on May 29, on the basis of the electoral inspectorate's report about numerous violations. On the advice of their union, the TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA), they are still staying away. But the principal and the ministry have said the school is not closed.

The electoral inspectorate has given the school until August 21 to fix the problems, which were uncovered after a fire in the integrated laboratory on May 19.

TTUTA president Lynsley Doodhai said that was the third fire at the school in the past two years, and although the school is a fire hazard, TTUTA is yet to see a fire certificate or electrical certificate. “No cause has been determined to date.”

He intends to write a letter under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get copies of these certificates

A parent said today, “We want to know what caused the fire, and for it to be properly fixed. We don’t want patchwork being done willy-nilly, because it could flare up again.

“We are being told quietly that there is imminent danger, yet school continues to go on with a few teachers coming out, and administration refusing to send an official request to the ministry to shut down the school so that the cause can be found and good work done.

"We don't want to return to school in the new September term with the same old problems."