Trouble brewing at Kwakwani Secondary School

Dear Editor,

I wish to make the public aware of the many issues which have plagued the children and teachers at the Kwakwani Secondary School for quite a few months now.

Firstly, a high amount of voltage has been circulating in the school’s electrical system. This has led to many instances of electrical fire, sparking wires, and smoke being emitted from those wires in classrooms and in other sections of the building. This is obviously a dangerous and hazardous environment for teachers and especially for students who attend the institution.

Moreover, reports were made in hopes that the situation would be rectified; but those reports have only led to the manifestation of a bigger problem — electricity to the building has been disconnected.

There are many classrooms which are extremely hot. In addition, certain departments within the school — for example, the Home Economics Department — cannot function effectively, since most of their appliances/apparatus use electricity. It is obvious that computers need electricity to work, which is a huge inconvenience to the Industrial Arts Department, bearing in mind that Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations are right around the bend and the first exam for the school, regrettably, is EDPM!

Is my child supposed to sit at home with his/her personal examiner just to be able to use a computer?

Furthermore, the school requires electricity to operate the pumps, which are the only means of getting water into the building. To date, learning has been affected by the stench emitting from unflushed toilets. Persons are forced to defer relieving themselves until they get home (this practice is detrimental to one’s health). Females utilise the washrooms at the risk of developing Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). Is this the Regional Democratic Council’s way of showing that they care about the schooling of our future leaders and their educators?

Finally, there is no work that can be done in the office, since there is no electricity to operate computers and printers. It would be absurd and primitively inconvenient to have to resort to putting pen to paper in this 21st century — the age of technology. The deplorable conditions need to be addressed immediately, and I hereby plead with readers to put themselves in our shoes and in the shoes of our children in the campaign to have our problems rectified as soon as possible.

Yours respectfully,

Concerned parent