00:00So this is St. Joseph's Secondary. This speaks for itself.
00:09Imagine walking into a classroom every day and being greeted by rodents, moles
00:14on walls, rusty chairs and tables. Well, this is a situation students and staff
00:20face every day at St. Joseph's Secondary School.
00:23This is the woodwork room. This is a decomposed rat. That on the side, that's the fur.
00:35That's the head. That's the body. That's the tail. This is a rat.
00:41Just identifying the specimen.
00:44Parents say that for far too long their children have been subjected to a plethora of problems
00:49which include a rat infestation, terrible lighting in classrooms and dilapidated buildings.
00:55Speaking to TV6 via WhatsApp, a spokesperson for the parents said many parents believe
01:01the school's administration is seeking to suppress the issues, adding the problems were
01:06reported to the principal over a month ago and still nothing is being done.
01:11Rats, they overtake the whole school, meaning that there are drop-ins when you see children
01:18come in the morning. There are rat drop-ins all over. They are in the staff rooms, they
01:24are in the home economic rooms, they are in a lot of classrooms, rat drop-ins.
01:31The parent who requested to remain anonymous said parents are afraid to send their children
01:36to school.
01:37These students are home going on two weeks, four months in particular. There are other
01:42students also who are not coming out. The school population normally I think is about
01:46I think it's about four to five hundred and it's under a hundred. A lot of students not
01:51coming out again.
01:53She said the school must be closed immediately to address the health concerns.
01:57I believe that they should close the school until this situation with the rats especially
02:01is rectified. That way you know that everything will be clear, the school will be sanitized
02:09properly and the children will be free of any incidents like any infection, anything
02:15that could be caused by the rats and the drop-ins.
02:20An official from the Ministry of Education says the situation at the school is being
02:24dealt with and last weekend, the regional corporation's public health department would
02:29have put rat poison at the school to get rid of the rodents.
02:33Sharla Kistu, TV6 News.
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