Poor lighting, overcrowding among issues at Region 10 schools

In his monthly report, Regional Vice Chairman of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), Elroy Adolph, has outlined a number of issues which he has observed at primary schools in the region. As a result, he has asked the administration of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) to pay closer attention to having these issues resolved. Adolph told members of the Council that during a recent visit to the One Mile Primary School in Linden, he observed that several lights in the institution were malfunctioning, resulting in poorly lit classrooms.
“We find that there are a number of lights in the classrooms that are not working. The classrooms are very dark. (In) Some classrooms, there (is) no proper lighting for the children…there’s a poor lighting system at the One Mile School,” Adolph pointed out.

Additionally, the Regional Vice Chairman stated, there is limited space in some of the classrooms within the school, and as a result, they have been divided into two parts and students have been made to ‘double up’. The space is so limited, he noted, teachers have a hard time displaying their teaching aides.
“They have the vent holes yes, but on those vent holes the teachers have their teaching aides, because they don’t have space,” Adolph said.
He added that he would have spoken with the school’s headmaster, who informed him that the situation has been in existence for a long time. “He said he has written several reports to the (Education) Department and on to that day when I went there, nobody hasn’t responded to him. He hasn’t had any response from them. So, I’m appealing to the administration: ‘Please check it out’, so that the children wouldn’t trouble with their eyes after a while,” Adolph added. The Regional Vice Chairman noted that there were also complaints of malfunctioning door locks, which he said was also reported to the Department by the headteacher. There is also the issue of an unfinished fence at the school, construction of which the contractor reportedly has abandoned.
“The yard, people walk to and fro. There is no gate and lots of activities taking place even though they have guards,” he declared.
He also pointed to the issue of flooding at the school. “There is a gutter there, like 10 feet long. He (headmaster) says for the past two years it is like that:- when the rain falls it comes down and it goes into the school’s classrooms,” the Regional Vice Chairman added, as he appealed to the administration for assistance.
He further indicated that, over at the Kwakwani Primary School, the washrooms are in desperate need of servicing. “Water is not going into the washrooms, so the cleaners have to fetch water to keep flushing the toilet.”
Meanwhile, speaking in relation to the issue of lighting at the school, Regional Executive Officer (REO) Orrin Gordon said there appears to be this issue at all of the schools in the Region.
“We went to Regma, Mackenzie High School, and we went to Republic Avenue Nursery, and they, too, are experiencing the same problem with electricity. We have engaged LEI (Linden Electricity Inc.), and when they came we had to engage one of their specialists to deal with it directly in its own time,” he said.
(Utamu Belle)