St George’s High School fire: Displaced students to begin new placement registration on Monday
…as Fire Service continues probe
The Education Ministry has announced that it will begin the registration process for displaced students, who were affected by the fire at St George’s School, on Monday. This process is to ensure that students are placed in a school for the new academic year.
The fire ravaging St George’s High School
In a notice issued on Friday, the Ministry said that it is “inviting parents of students attending St George’s Secondary to visit the Department of Education, Lot 68 Brickdam, Georgetown, from Monday, July 25, 2022, to participate in a registration process which will aid the Ministry in the placement of students for the new academic year”.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Fire service (GFS) said it is still investigating the cause of the fire which destroyed St George’s High School on North Road in Georgetown on Wednesday.
The wooden and concrete structure was destroyed by a ravaging fire that was later brought under control by the GFS after some time had been spent battling the fire.
An official from the Fire Service told Guyana Times that investigators re-visited the scene, and will provide an update on the cause as soon as Monday.
It was reported that on the day of the fire, a class with first formers was ongoing when both teachers and students were alerted by the cleaner that smoke was emanating from the Social Studies room.
After the class had exited the building, the fire began spreading quickly, and soon engulfed the upper floor of the two-storey building. As a result of the blaze, 421 students and their teachers are now displaced.
As such, Education Minister Priya Manickchand has said the Ministry is currently looking for accommodation for the students and teachers. The school that was destroyed was built in 1800, and was one of the oldest schools in the country.
On the scene, Fire Chief Gregory Wickham said an earlier call to the Fire Service could have saved the building. He said it was not until the building was fully in flames that the Fire Service was called to the scene. (G9)
