Wesley Hall Junior School in King Street, The City is set to resume classes on Tuesday following repairs to address issues that had prompted teacher sick-outs in recent weeks.
The decision to reopen came after members of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) and Ministry of Education officials conducted a walk-through of the school plant on Monday morning.
Principal Herbert Gittens told reporters: “As you can see the work has started, we did the walk-through today, and the health and safety committee is satisfied that at least the ministry is making an effort to rectify these issues.”
Gittens outlined the main focus of the recent work, which included addressing moisture in walls, repairing ceilings, and improvements to the nutritional room and Class 4 block. He also mentioned plans for a garbage enclosure recommended by the Ministry of Health.
“They have actually started work and dug the holes right around the perimeter for the installation of fencing for the entire compound. That includes moving the gate beyond the guard hut so that the gate would now be before the guard hut. That should help improve security in the coming days and in the new school year,” Gittens added.
The principal said the school would operate on Tuesday and Thursday, with Wednesday reserved for graduation. He expressed hope that further improvements would be made during the summer break, saying: “We will give them a chance during the summer when the school is closed to continue the work that has been started here, so that come September we can have better facilities for teaching and learning to continue.”
BUT President Rudy Lovell expressed satisfaction with the progress: “From what we saw this morning the union is satisfied that the Ministry is making an effort to rectify these issues that were brought to the attention by the staff.”
He added: “We now have a 10-week period – summer vacation – for which they can do more work, and we are hopeful that work will continue having started over the last week or so.” (SB)
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