St John’s Primary School Remains Closed as Ministry of Education Seeks Alternative Location; Efforts Underway for Satellite Facility

The PTA leader said: “I know that this school was previously earmarked to be closed down and demolished and a new school was supposed to be built south of the Thompson Health and Social Services Complex. This was with the previous administration and then we no longer heard anything about it once the administration was changed. So this is not a new issue; this issue was identified years ago.

“Our hope is that a new location would be established so the children can go on and get their education. Right now, this is exam period and our children are unable to set exams because they do not have a facility to do that. So we have teachers here who want to teach and we have children who want to learn, but we do not have the resources which we need- a safe facility to conduct the classes.”

President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell was also visiting the school while the demonstration was occurring. He said the environmental problem was not only affecting the health of the staff but the students as well, adding that he was pleased to see the PTA step up.

“The union is happy that the PTA of St John’s Primary School has taken the initiative to voice their concerns with regards to the environmental issues at the school. It shows that both parents and teachers have a similar interest in ensuring the health and safety of the students and ensuring that the delivery of education is done in a safe and healthy working environment. My intention is to support the teachers throughout the entire process and we will be here for as long as it is,” he said.

The union leader said the staff and students deserved a new school, as he urged the education ministry to “take the initiative to rectify the issue or to relocate the school”.

He said the complaints about St John’s have been going on for far too long and “nothing seems to be happening”.

“There have been remediations on several occasions but the result is basically that the environmental issues continue to plague the school,” Lovell said.

In a recorded statement on Tuesday evening, Deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson said the ministry regretted the environmental issues the staff and students at the school had to endure.

“The ministry’s first priority is to finalise conversations with a potential new location for the rest of the term,” she said. “We are therefore actively pursuing an alternative location for Monday, December 4, 2023. While the ministry has made every effort to counter reported environmental concerns, since earlier this year, the school continues to be plagued with several structural issues.”

Adamson added that in October and earlier this month, an environmental hygienist, environmentalist and the education technical management unit visited the school.

She said that corrective work is done as issues are identified, adding that remedial work took place last weekend.

An air quality test and a test for mould were conducted on Monday, she said, and the ministry was awaiting the results.

Adamson assured the public that the issues affecting the school have been a frequent point of discussion among officials at the ministry and when the test results are provided a final decision on the way forward would be made.

The chairman of the BUT’s Health and Safety Committee, Julian Pierre, also expressed concerns about environmental issues at two other schools, the Ann Hill School in The Pine and The Lester Vaughan School in St Thomas. He said the union was also carrying out investigations at Luther Thorne Primary School in Wildey, St Michael following a recent sickout by teachers complaining of environmental issues

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