BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - BASSETERRE HIGH SCHOOL (BHS) remains closed and students and teachers are at home today (Apr. 29), as there is still no word on where they would be housed for the continuation of the final term of the school year.
While considerations are still being given as to where the staff and pupils will be relocated, the public’s concern is growing about the children's education and how this sudden closure would affect them, especially the fifth form students who should be preparing for their CXC examination in May-June.
This closure comes following months of complaints made by parents, students and teachers, who raised concerns about the health and safety of the school after symptoms, including skin irritation, nausea, respiratory problems and dizziness, were again being reported.
This also follows a visit by the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) which also raised concerns about the safety of the school, expressing that the teachers had real cause for concerns.
This issue affecting the BHS is one that has been viral since November 2012 when teachers took industrial action after concerns raised about the school's safety were not being taken seriously.
Since then, much attention was given to the matter with the laboratories believed to have been the center of the contamination issue. However, suggestions were that the issue originated from septic tanks that were allegedly not properly maintained.
The school was closed from late November 2012 to mid-January 2013 and agreements were made following visitations by experts of the Trinidad-based CARIRI and several meetings among the Ministry, the school’s teachers and parents of the students.
Measures were taken to have the school returned to a state of normalcy in January 2013, prior to the reopening of the western campus.
The main concern being raised by the public is the fact that, while recommendations and measures are being taken to rectify the issue, the root cause of the problem is yet to be identified.
