C.W. Prescod gets clean bill of health

Things are back to normal at the C W Prescod Primary School. Classes resumed last Monday, September 10, the beginning of the new school year, after an unexpected early closure last term.{{more}}

Classes came to a complete halt during the third term, when the school was declared unfit by officials of the Ministry of Health and the Environment, because of the presence of rats on the compound.

Last week Thursday, a high power team from the Ministry of Education, which included Minister Girlyn Miguel, Permanent Secretary Laura Browne and Chief Education Officer Susan Dougan visited the school and met with the staff and the executive of the Parent Teacher Association. Also part of the team was an official of the Ministry of Health and the Environment who gave the school a clean bill of health.

The team also made a tour of the premises and was generally satisfied that conditions were significantly improved.

The health official assured the staff that the rats were no longer on the compound as periodic checks had been made during the July and August period.

But the beginning of the new term was not without its challenges for the school, as parents sent a petition to the Ministry of Education calling for the reinstatement of former Acting Principal of the school Olive Allen, who was at the helm during the fiasco which resulted in the premature closure.

However, the Ministry stood its ground on its decision to appoint Hyacinth Harry as the new principal.

The school, with a population of just under 800, had ten members of staff transferred, with four additions. The staff stands at 37.

It has been a bitter-sweet time for the C W Prescod Primary School over the last three months. One week before the first suspension of classes, the school received news of its best returns at the Common Entrance exams to date. The school recorded a fifty-eight percent pass rate, with 89 of the 153 that sat the exams being successful.

In addition, the school enjoyed the success of eleven of its students gaining places at the St. Vincent Grammar School, another first.

The closure also meant that no third term test was done. The unexpected interruption aroused concern in many quarters and necessitated the intervention of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves who promised improved conditions for the start of the new term.

Delivering on that promise, the school received a face lift which included sanitization, power hosing and repainting of the entire building. New furniture was also received and most of the derelict items, previously stored on the compound were removed.

However, the school is still faced with the age-old problem of the toilet facilities not fully functioning.