Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 30, 2015 (SKNIS)—Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Honourable Shawn Richards, while welcoming some of the criticisms of the handling of the Basseterre High School (BHS) situation, was critical of some of the views of the Opposition.
In responding to a question from the host of the Government’s weekly radio program
“Working for You” about members of the Opposition who reportedly visited the BHS and criticized the situation at the school, the education minister said the Opposition was not being genuine.
“It is the students that are actually there in the classrooms and they are the best ones to give firsthand information as to what is happening—not persons who have never visited Basseterre High School throughout the entire year, but for one day decide to visit and all of a sudden they have all the solutions and they know all the issues,” Mr. Richards said.
The deputy prime minister noted that the Opposition Leader, Dr. Denzil Douglas, when he was prime minister never once visited the school to find out the issues affecting the students and teachers. He was also critical of the Opposition Senator, Nigel Carty, who was the Minister of Education, and Marcella Liburd, the former Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Central Basseterre under the previous administration when the environmental health issues at the school first surfaced.
The Basseterre High School, over the last three years has been faced with environmental health issues with reported symptoms among staff and students including skin irritations, dizziness, lethargy, tightness of the chest, and sores in and around mouth.
The Team Unity Administration has vowed to build a new school at a site to be determined. In the meantime, the Government is building some temporary classrooms on a site next to the Washington Archibald High School to house first form and second form students with other students assigned to other locations.
The education minister reported that the construction of the temporary classrooms is progressing well and should be ready to house the students when the new school term begins in January.
“It was only yesterday (Tuesday, October 30) I visited the job site… and in an interview with persons from SKNIS, the person in charge there was able to say that the job is ahead of schedule by some two weeks and it will be completed ahead of time,” Richards said.
In the interim, the minister said he continues to meet with the parents and students.
“Our actions are speaking louder than words,” Minister Richards said. The minister noted that he welcomes some of the criticisms of how the government is handling the process with the BHS as there might be suggestions that could be taken on board.
The education minister also noted that he made sure he consulted all the stakeholders of the school and persons within and outside of Government when they took office earlier this year.
The complaint from teachers and students was that the shift system implemented at the time between BHS and Washington Archibald High School students was not the best solution; hence, the Government ended that system in September. That led to the current system where the students are housed at various locations namely Sports Department, Premier Dental Building, the Zion Moravian Church, Washington Archibald High School, the Warner Park and the Methodist Church. Mr. Richards thanked all the teachers for the cooperation and commitment in serving the students during the difficult period facing the school.
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