There is a great need for the Education Ministry to be equipped with a unit solely responsible for the designing of schools, particularly in the hinterland regions, according to the Preliminary Report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) launched into the education sector.
“We must allow ourselves to understand where schools should be built; just ask the people, ask the communities…we have schools in the Berbice River, for example, that have five, eight and ten students,” CoI Chairman Ed Caesar informed.
The Commissioners found that schools were being designed and constructed without the input of community members and quite often, they did not satisfy the needs of the community. Caesar added that there should also be a programme in every administrative region responsible for the rehabilitation and repairs of schools.
The La Grange Primary School with no provisions for persons living with disabilities to enter
“If there is no such programme, then where are we going? We must also look at our dormitories; some of them are in need of repairs and we must also look at who occupies the dormitories,” he stated.
Caesar informed that the Commissioners found that there were some dormitories housing persons who were not in the education sector and giving them preferential treatment. He added that the teachers were then subjected to poor living conditions with the expectation of being able to deliver quality teaching to their students.
“We have teachers in the hinterland wanting to be housed, and we can’t house them because of other people occupying the dormitories,” he noted.
Caesar also informed that the Commission found that there were schools being constructed and being moved without being gazetted, hence making them non-existent. “We are constructing building, we moving schools so to speak and renaming schools without the schools being gazetted and pay sheets are being written for these schools that really don’t exist.”
The Report also recommends that schools be constructed with provisions for persons with disabilities. “Infrastructure is critical and we must not build any schools that don’t allow the challenged to enter. Our schools must be able to accommodate someone who is on crutches or a wheelchair or can’t see properly,” Caesar said.
Most of the schools in Guyana are built either two or three stories high with no wheelchair ramps or any other provisions for the incapacitated. The Commission noted that there should be provisions made for a student or teacher who may have injured their leg or even a parent who is wheelchair bound.
Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine ordered the CoI to determine the state of the education sector. The final report of the CoI is expected to be handed over in the next two to three weeks.
