Princes Town MP, Barry Padarath has issued a call for the Education Minister to update the country on the state of readiness for schools with a particular interest in repairs, classroom violence and the Dengue situation.
In a media release on Thursday, Padarath said that several schools in his constituency “have been complaining and requesting assistance from his office for material and supplies to address crumbling infrastructure.”
Padarath said: “With just two weeks to go before the reopening of the school term, the minister (Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly) and the government should have been actively engaged in ensuring that school repairs were at an advanced stage.”
Padarath further questioned whether some schools would remain closed as a result of the delays of the repairs.
He called on the Education Minister to say what specific measures have been implemented to curb the ongoing issue of school violence and whether additional guidance counselors and police officers would be assigned to affected schools.
The MP also highlighted the need for schools to be sprayed for mosquitoes given the growing number of Dengue cases.
He said extra focus should be placed in rural areas “where schools are in close proximity to water sources and where regional corporations and insect vector units have been starved of resources to spray for mosquitoes” as it would need to be sprayed ahead of school’s reopening.
He also issued a call to Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi to take urgent steps to ensure that all schools are also regularly inspected and sprayed to mitigate any further challenges.