BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH all attention being focused on constructing a new Basseterre High School in light of the old campus had allegedly caused health complications to student and teachers, education officials have no protocol to deal with the upgrading of schools.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Vincent Hodge recently told SKNVibes that education officials are currently in the process of drafting that protocol for all educational institutions.
Hodge, responding to a question about protocols for the upgrading of schools so as not to have a repeat of the old BHS situation and to deem a campus unfit, indicated that “we have actually started developing a protocol”.
“We did most of the work already and this is something that we are going to make available to principles and other leaders in the education sector, once it is finalized.”
Since students and teachers began complaining about health-related issues at the Basseterre High School Victoria Road-based Campus several years ago, many have questioned the frequency to which education officials carry out checks at schools around the island.
Many believe that if regular checks were made students and teachers would not have fallen ill, as one of the recent reports had indicated that mold and fungus were found at the old campus.
The former Labour Administration had brought in several health experts to conduct tests at the institution so that the exact cause of ailments to the students and teachers could be determined, but those tests were all inconclusive.
The Dr. Harris-led Team Unity Administration had brought in experts from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to carry out tests at the site, and that too did not give any conclusive evidence on what may have caused the ailments.
Hodge noted that the Ministry’s project engineer, Carl Francis, and two of his project field officers were charged with the responsibility of overseeing institutions “on a daily or weekly basis”
“They would report on what is to be done. In addition, we have field officers from Public Works who work in conjunction with our field officers. Together the two teams – those from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Works – would come together and decide which projects need to be tackled, the priority areas and stuff like that.”
Currently, the government is said to be carrying out checks at various schools around the island.
