Parents of some 15 tiny tots due to start early childhood education in Lopinot in September are calling on the Ministry of Education to assign a teacher to their class. The disgruntled parents spoke with TV6 outside the school today.
00:00 Parents of some 15 students who were due to enter the Lopinu La Pastora Early
00:06 Childhood Care and Education Center say the little ones have never attended a
00:11 single class. My daughter has registered since June last year, was promised a
00:16 place in September last, the beginning of the term and up to now, the principal is saying
00:23 that they haven't attained teaching staffers yet, so they are short staff at the
00:29 moment. Darius Christo tells us he last spoke with the principal in December
00:34 2023. The principal who was offering us spotting a preschool out of Lopinu, which
00:40 would have been very inconvenient and for me and the people who had been
00:44 overseeing my child in my absence, I think, I think it's, it's a little bit too
00:54 overbearing because there's no definite answer. He is frustrated and unsure of
01:00 how to respond to his daughter who's eager to start school. Daddy, when am I
01:06 going to school? I said as soon as they get a teacher, baby, and it's a feeling of
01:12 defeat. As a father, you would like to see your children in school learning, you
01:17 know, even if it's just social skills. I mean, this is early childhood, so
01:21 definitely their social skills will be challenged going into primary school.
01:27 The parents of the 15 preschoolers were called to a meeting and given a book
01:32 list and uniform description. We were given everything. All the children here
01:37 have everything since last year. I actually woke up one morning and got my
01:43 son ready for school thinking that day was school, only to get a phone call from
01:46 another parent stating that there wasn't any school, and that went on for a whole
01:49 day. Every week we were just waiting and waiting and waiting. They spent
01:54 approximately $2,000 on supplies, but attending a private ECCE is not an
02:00 option for them. It's seven and a half miles probably from here.
02:05 There are people who live further up, probably eight miles, eight and something miles, right?
02:08 So, and it's, that is a trek they'll have to make twice for the day. Bearing in mind
02:14 these are toddlers, so we defeated the whole purpose of early childhood when we
02:17 say we have to take them to Aruka to get an education for early childhood to bring
02:20 them back here. They will be tired. You think they can make that every day? And
02:23 aside from that physical negative effect it will have on their bodies, it's a
02:28 financial strain for parents. Mejia says it's $10 one way per person in and out
02:34 of Lopino, which works out to about $1,200 per month just to get to the
02:40 Eastern Main Road, and it defeats the purpose of having an ECCE practically
02:46 in their backyard. They learn independency from this, they learn routines, most
02:51 importantly they learn transition into the primary school, right? So this is a
02:54 foundation, what we call an early childhood, it's crucial years, building block years.
02:58 So they need this in order to go into primary school. She believes in the UN
03:03 Convention on the Rights of a Child that each child is entitled to an education.
03:08 So Anissa and another concerned parent made their way to the Ministry of
03:13 Education. She says the principal himself has sent correspondence several
03:18 times to the Education Ministry with not much luck. Every year their teachers
03:23 come and go to the ECCE department for primary, secondary, so where is this
03:28 problem? It's incompetence on somebody's behalf, right? We know there are teachers,
03:32 why we cannot get one teacher assigned to Lopino La Pastora? This school was
03:37 what, 15 years ago? 15 years ago this school was functioning, when I tell you,
03:42 top class, my first son went here. Village Council President Anastasios
03:47 Guevara says this is yet another case of neglect for the people of Lopino.
03:53 That school was painted before Christmas through the council. We came and painted it, otherwise it would have been in terrible condition.
03:59 And also the primary school. If you take a look at the gate there, the
04:04 condition of the gate is, there's a little children in that school, but they don't have time for Lopino.
04:08 And what about the MP? Well the MP is doing whatever he feels like, and whenever he feels like doing something in Lopino, you know, like afterthought.
04:18 We tried to contact the MP for the area and the Education Ministry, but up to
04:22 news time there was no response. Arvashi Tewari, Rupnurine TV 6 News.
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