Following discussions between the Minister of Education Priya Manickchand and the parents of the now displaced students of the Christ Church Secondary School that was destroyed by fire last week, it was decided that the students will be placed at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) at Turkeyen, Georgetown.
The meeting was held on Tuesday at the Queen’s College auditorium hours after the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) concluded that the fire was maliciously set by a person or persons unknown.
The students will commence classes at the new location as soon as next week.
The school has over 500 students, 39 teachers and nine auxiliary staff.
While some parents have opted to have their child/children transferred to a new school, many parents were determined to keep the students in one building where they can continue their educational activities. In addition, transfers to other schools are difficult because many schools are housing students who were displaced because of other school fires.
Minister Manickchand assured the parents that the CPCE building has laboratories and other facilities that can be occupied by the students to complete schooling. The Ministry of Education has committed to assisting parents with getting the students to the CPCE campus at Turkeyen.
Further, Minister Manickchand said because the campus has in-house teachers, there will be strict rules about interactions between the students and teachers who are not teaching at the school.
The students will also receive the text books needed for their studies.
The school was destroyed last Thursday and the Guyana Fire Service on Monday concluded that it was purposely set on fire. This was the second fire at the school and after all chemicals were removed and the school was deemed safe from electrical issues, the fire service determined arson was the cause.
Manickchand on Tuesday said anyone who is seen conspiring with persons to destroy any public buildings especially schools will be penalized and face imprisonment.
The Minister said the parents must condemn any acts of destroying schools and communities must work together to ensure that public buildings are preserved.
