The Ministry of Education engaged teachers and ancillary staff of the Christ Church secondary school to discuss the way forward and has committed to ensuring that the staff and students are adequately accommodated in the shortest possible time following Thursday’s devastating fire.
See full statement from the Ministry of Education:
The Ministry of Education is committed to ensuring the students, teachers and ancillary staff of the Christ Church Secondary School are adequately accommodated in the shortest possible time following last evening’s devastating fire.
On Friday, the Honourable Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand and Senior Officers of the Ministry of Education met with the teachers and ancillary staff of the secondary institution to discuss the way forward. The meeting was held in the boardroom at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD).
The officers present included the Chief Education Officer, Mr Saddam Hussain, Deputy Chief Education Officer – Administration, Ms Fazia Baksh, Deputy Chief Education Officer – Development, Ms Volika Jaikishun, Assistant Chief Education Officer – Secondary, Ms Tiffany Harvey, Principal Education Officer, Mr Emmanuel Bridgewater, Director of the School Boards Secretariat, Mr Deonarine Hardat and other Education Officers.
Minister Manickchand stated that the List A school has performed well over the years and commended the teachers for their dedication to raising the standard of the school. She further said that the decisions taken will have to be guided by what is in the best interest in the students enrolled.
The Education Minister said that the ideal preference would be to house all the students in one location.
During the meeting, various options were explored for the placement of students and teachers however, there were no definite decisions made by the end of the meeting. Minister Manickchand also said that the Ministry will have to meet with the parents and students to discuss the matter further. It was noted that the school’s enrollment records, which were saved as softcopies, will guide the process forward.
In the meantime, teachers were asked to engage their students online until a decision can be made.
Also present at the meeting was the Guyana Teachers’ Union President, Mr Mark Lyte.
Last evening, the Christ Church Secondary School became engulfed in flames.
I just cannot comprehend that these fires can just ‘erupt’ and ‘engulf a building’ of this dimension in day light and the fire department was unable to curtail and minimise destruction of this magnitude?
Furthermore would like to know ,the cause ,who reported it and when ? and even further it seems to me that Government or state owned buildings especially schools are more ‘prone’ to this kind of destructions. Why?
To see these buildings being destroyed ,the inconvenience to students ,teachers and parents and the adverse fiscal space of the country’s economy it is beyond at least beyond my diction to describe. It is sad ! If it is an accident from the science laboratory or electrical the root cause analysis should be able to find the cause and come with the answers to prevent this from happening .