National footballer Marvin Phillip knelt in the church where his son was christened four months ago, holding onto the infant’s small coffin, unwilling to say goodbye
Gender, Youth and Child Development Minister Clifton De Coteau says his ministry intends to add to its community-focused parenting progr
What about art?
Any day now, single mother Selika Jacob will give birth to her third child.
The morals and values that were instilled in the citizens of T&T as children are failing them and the 230 murders in only 197 days o
Penta colour shops have been rebranded and are now the Penta Colour Studios. A member of the ANSA Group for the past 35 years, Penta rebranding is being hailed as the d
The latest oil spill from the tanks of state-owned oil company Petrotrin has been labelled a disaster in the making by president general of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union Ancel Roget. Speaking
Despite assurances from several press releases from State-owned Petrotrin in the past two days stating its latest oil spill is “being contained,” residents of Mango Alley Silk Cotton Road, Marabell
Gender, Youth and Child Development Minister Clifton De Coteau says there has been a steady increase in the number of sexual offences against females in the past five y
Highway Reroute Movement leader Dr Wayne Kublalsingh says the Debe to Mon Desir leg of the Point Fortin highway was the cause of last Friday’s floods in Debe and has de
Junior Minister in the Ministry of the People and Social Development Vernella Alleyne-Toppin is denying claims by a pregnant homeless mother of two, Selika Jacob, that
Members of the Premala Dance Academy broke down while performing a farewell dance for little Adita Roopchand during her funeral service at her family’s home in Beaucaro, Freeport, yesterday. Adita,
Members of the South Business Association (SBA) are hoping come budget day this September, the city of San Fernando will finally get the allocation it needs to bring it up to city standards.
Staff at the San Fernando Magistrates Court yesterday defied the Judiciary’s order to return to work as Public Service Association (PSA) president Watson Duke tore up the notices sent to employees,
His dream of becoming a doctor was all the motivation Rajeev Ram, 17, needed when he registered to take 16 subjects in the May/June Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams in January. But the Na
A councillor says the Ministry of National Security’s current national consultation on marijuana would be more effective if it was done in at-risk communities where he believes the majority of peop
Empty. This is how Vishwanie Lal-Ramsingh described herself yesterday, after her first child died inside her womb on Thursday. Lal-Ramsingh was taken to hospital on Tuesday complaining of severe pa
An ailing Gasparillo couple is appealing to their MP, Works Minister, Suruj Rambachan, to help them rebuild their dilapidated home. Jankey Ramlal, 52, and her common-law husband, Khemraj Panchoo, 5
A well-known Hindu palm reader and United States citizen was shot dead at his San Fernando home on Monday night, while on vacation in T&T. Mahadeo Jerrybandhan, 74, who lived in Key West, Flori
Parents of students attending Couva West Secondary School have shut it down indefinitely. For the second time yesterday, the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) staged a protest outside the school at Balisier Avenue, Couva. However, this time, the 200-plus parents said they had had enough and promised that the school would remain shut until Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh met with them to find a solution to the myriad of health and safety problems.
The National Parent Teachers Association regional president for Caroni, Esther Cruickshank-Jerome, said the situation was now overbearing, as for the past year they had been contending with a faulty air-condition unit, leaking roof, unsafe ceilings, unsuitable bathroom conditions and absence of taps except in the washrooms.
Cruickshank-Jerome said it was unfair to ask students or teachers to occupy the unsafe classrooms. She said on a daily basis parents had to leave their jobs or personal tasks to return to the school to collect their unsupervised children. “The ceiling is falling down, the science block is in a mess. I walked through the school this morning, and I can’t stay there for another minute, so you cannot expect teachers to sit down in a class like that to teach children.
“Parents have had enough. The school will be shut down, indefinitely, until we get an audience with the Minister of Education,” Cruickshank-Jerome said. Frustrated with the continued closure and early dismissal of students since the start of the new school term, a group of about 30 parents, on Monday, publicly aired their concerns outside the school. They insisted that classes had not resumed as stated by the Education Ministry last Friday.
“Since school started there has been no school. I want to know why,” angry parent Vincent Boyce asked. “Other than the excuses they are giving us that a water line for the air flow system for the air condition is broken, why it is this is not being repaired?” Boyce, the father of a Form Two student, said since his daughter began attending that school in 2013, it had been closed on and off for a number of different reasons.
“At one point in time it was the asbestos or fibreglass in the system. That was repaired. Another time it was a gas leak, which was repaired. Then some of the teachers started complaining that it was too cold.”
Ministry responds
The Ministry of Education said Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharam, accompanied by officials from the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) and the Caroni Education District, visited the school yesterday to assess the situation. The meeting included members of the local school board, the NPTA and members of the PTA.
It was decided that EFCL and Energy Dynamics Ltd (EDL) would work together to find short- and long-term solutions. EFCL and EDL will examine the extent of the problem and advise what temporary cooling systems could be put in place. In the interim, on Monday, students of Forms Four and Five will continue to attend school for half a day on a daily basis until the repairs are done.
Forms One to Three students will be kept at home and will be further advised by the ministry.
