Indiana Thompson, The Bahamas Union of Teachersﾒ district steward for the southwestern district, said that on Monday teachers and administrators had made a compromise that teachers would be permitted to teach only half days while construction work continued at the school.
The plan, according to Ms. Thompson, was for school to be dismissed and for teachers to use the rest of the day to prepare their classrooms for teaching.
She said the agreement was for the compromise to remain in effect for the entire week, but administrators informed teachers on Tuesday that they would have to teach the entire school day.
As a result, the teachers walked out of their classrooms.
Acting Director of Education Cecil Thompson, who met with the teachers in the afternoon, assured that the ministry was working to improve working conditions.
“Our intention is to resolve the problem as speedily as possible because this school has quite a number of students and of course the safety and welfare of teachers and students are of the utmost importance to the Ministry of Education,” Mr. Thompson said.
He added that the teachersﾒ concerns would have to be relayed to the permanent secretary and to the minister before a decision could be made on whether classes would resume on Wednesday.
Mr. Thompson recognized that the teachersﾒ concerns are valid. However, he urged them to be patient as the government reconstructs a new school.
“This is a major undertaking by the Ministry of Education. The ministry has chosen not to do the quick fix, but the ministry has taken the tough decision to demolish the old and crumpling building and replace it with a brand new school. Obviously, this canﾒt take place over a two-month period,” Mr. Thompson said.
Several trailers have been set up as makeshift classrooms.
Ms. Thompson, meanwhile, explained that the conditions at the campus are unacceptable.
“We have had an opportunity to enter the classrooms; we have been teaching; we have functioned as a staff and we have found that there are many kinks and problems that we have when it comes to functioning as a teacher in the classroom,” she explained.
Ms. Thompson said school administrators and officials at the ministry were briefed about the situation, but were unable to resolve it.
She said that in addition to poor physical conditions at the school, teaching materials are not accessible, but are being stored in classrooms and the schoolﾒs gymnasium.
“The [physical education] teachers are out of space to entertain their students. They are just walking around with the children following,” Ms. Thompson said.
“The food and nutrition lab is inoperable and so we have teachers and students with no classroom and even though some classes are ready for teaching we canﾒt allow our colleagues to suffer,” Ms. Thompson said.
She claimed that teachers have only been babysitting students since the new school year started on September 4.
“We feel that if we were allowed a few days off to allow the larger equipment access to campus without children running around then they would be able to do their work, so that we wonﾒt be hindered any further,” Ms. Thompson said.
She said all the work being carried out on campus during class time is causing a major distraction to the students and the presence of the large equipment on campus is hazardous.
The teachers praised the ministry for setting up the air-conditioned trailers. However Ms. Thompson explained that work is still needed in that area.
“They need to build a surface around the bottom area that will allow easy access for teachers,” she said. “We have a pregnant teacher who has difficulty getting in the classroom because there is a space between the fill and the entrance. It is not suitable for women to enter the trailers that way.”
She claimed that several students fell while trying to enter the trailers.
“We know they are working feverishly to get the work done and the staff was willing to compromise, but after the compromise was rescinded we feel that efforts are needed to have a school that is a safe learning environment,” Ms. Thompson said.
The teachers said the teachers would only return to their classrooms if they can work half days for a few days.
On Tuesday, workmen were busy on the campus as steel poles protruded through the landfill. There were also nails on the sidewalks and water pipes had not yet been installed.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
