Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 1 year ago
The start of the new academic year has been marked by protest at Mt. Hope Secondary School, as students there are said to be facing a litany of woes.


Their parents say the issues are long-standing and their school environment is not only uncomfortable, but dangerous in some cases.


Alicia Boucher has the details.
Transcript
00:00We want the toilet fixed right now. We want the electricity fixed right now.
00:06Untenable. That's how parents of students attending Mount Hope Secondary School say
00:10their children's educational environment is. Electrical issues, leaking roofs and an infestation
00:17of termites in the ceiling and furniture has said to be only a few of the many problems,
00:24according to the interim president of the Parent Teacher Association, Meryl Rodney.
00:29Kosher has cordoned off part of the school because it's a risk. It's a risk, right?
00:40Parts of the stairwell are rotting away. We're the only school that don't have MTS maintainers.
00:48You know, and it's appalling.
00:50Marilyn Marquis has a daughter who attends the school.
00:54We have 287 girls in the school and only seven bathrooms working. That is 41 girls to one stall.
01:05Seven out of how much?
01:07Seven out of 17.
01:09Marquis says while her child is performing well academically, she has fallen ill a couple times.
01:15I took her to the hospital. They did you name it on her, right? And nothing was done.
01:23My daughter fainted away in the school. It's hot. Our classrooms are hot. There's poor ventilation.
01:28We have poor lighting. Today, we are here. We are pleading. We want our school repaired.
01:35Do we have to be oppressed, the school, to get repairs?
01:40They say they were supposed to get a new school building close to the present one,
01:44but construction was never completed and the structure has now become dilapidated.
01:49The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association states that it is standing in solidarity with the PTA at Mount Hope Secondary.
01:56Its president, Martin Lemkin, calls on the education ministry to address the issues.
02:02The working conditions of our teachers are the learning conditions of our students.
02:08And if they are not given the proper conditions, resources, etc., then how can effective learning take place?
02:19According to Tutor, the school is one where parents are doing their best to ensure their children's education and discipline,
02:27and its educators are willing to continue.
02:30Is it that the school has to underperform or there has to be violence and indiscipline before intervention takes place?
02:39It should not be.
02:41Lemkin says the school has been on a list for emergency repairs for a number of years.
02:46However, when it reaches the higher offices of the Ministry of Education, then it is downgraded and put aside.
02:56According to Tutor, it is also earmarked for Phase 2 of the vacation repair program,
03:01all the while noting that these works will now have to take place during the school year.
03:07Alessia Boucher, TV6 News.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment