00:00A fire in 2003 caused significant damage to the Rosilac Hindu School building, forcing
00:06students into the next door temple for classes.
00:10And after some time, they were relocated to the Rosilac Community Centre, where they have
00:15stayed for over 15 years.
00:18It has been 15 to 16 years since our children have been here, right?
00:23The children, the past students of the Rosilac Hindu School does not know what is a school
00:28environment, because they have been, they started pre-school here, they finished SEA.
00:35Parents have protested multiple times over the years.
00:38The area's councillor says a school was being built under the People's Partnership Government,
00:44but work halted when the administration changed.
00:47When we had demitted office in 2015, the school was at 70% completed.
00:54Unfortunately, they have not, this government has not made any advances to open that school.
01:03A former PTA president of the school says they lobbied the current government many times
01:09and were promised that the school building would have been completed years ago, but that
01:14never materialised.
01:16And while issues of spacing and comfort have always been at the fore, parents complained
01:21that last week, the SEA class was relocated to an even more cramped room.
01:27They were moved because the principal, the now principal, was not comfortable.
01:34So she took the standard five class that the student was and turned it into her new office.
01:39The children were more comfortable, they had proper airflow, everything.
01:44Where they are right now, when rains fall, they get wet.
01:47It's a matter they want the Ministry of Education to rectify, as they claim school officials
01:52have been unwilling to meet with them.
01:55The parents say, despite the cramped classes and community centre facilities for the children,
02:01they are frequently asked to provide money towards various expenses.
02:06Every term, we have to contribute funds to AAC, to fixing up the AAC.
02:12This new term starting, they told us, they told the children to come tell us that we
02:16need to stop giving money for toilet paper, for hand soap, every single week.
02:21It don't matter if you have more than one child per household, every child has to bring
02:26five dollars.
02:27Per week?
02:28Per week.
02:29We contacted Minister of Education, Dr Nayan Gatsbidoli, on the concerns of the parents,
02:34but up to news time, did not receive a response.
02:38Cindy Raghubar-Tikasingh, TV6 News.
Comments