Parents protest conditions at Mocha Nursery

In the wake of the protest by parents of Mocha Nursery School pupils over the unsatisfactory conditions, Chief Education Officer Olato Sam has said he has not received a report on the incident.
The Education Ministry official made the disclosure and declined to further comment when contacted by Guyana Times about what mechanisms were being put in place to rectify the situation.
A crowd of parents and guardians as well as other residents of Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara began their protest on Monday outside the Nursery School, forcing its temporary closure. Equipped with placards, the demonstrators pleaded with Government to acknowledge their concerns about the hazardous and sordid conditions pupils were forced to endure on a daily basis.
Parents highlighted that their complaints have gone unheeded over the years and they could no longer accept what their children were forced to experience. They said the school’s shaky, rotting structure was cause for worry in addition to the overgrown grass in the schoolyard which harboured snakes and other dangerous creatures. They related that on numerous occasions, the pupils would complain of snakes in the lavatory. Other persons expressed dissatisfaction over the insanitary conditions of the toilets.
Although complaints were made about the issue, they reportedly “fell on deaf ears” as nothing was ever done.
One resident who identified herself as Cathy George maintained that a new nursery school was needed given the current state of the school and the increased population of the community.
When this publication visited the school on Tuesday, the teachers had locked the doors and windows and refused to provide any information.