Ceiling at Couva West Secondary collapses

WEEKS before secondary students return to school to write the CAPE and CSEC exams in July, parts of the ceiling of the Couva West Secondary School collapsed on Monday. MP for the area Rudranath Indarsingh is asking what would have happened had children been in the classroom.

He said this troubled school was repaired last year and is wondering if shoddy workmanship is to blame for the collapse. “This classroom was repaired in the latter part of last year so this is either shoddy workmanship or a lack of supervision of work,” he suggested.

In addition to the falling ceiling, Indarsingh said this school was one of two in his Couva South constituency broken into the past week. He called on Minister of Education Anthony Garcia and his junior minister Dr Lovell Francis to treat with security and infrastructural problems at the various schools.

In an interview on Monday, Indarsingh said, “The ceiling in Block 2, the second floor collapsed this morning. Where is the leadership of Ministers Garcia and Lovell? Are they going to wait until CSEC or CAPE exams or the SEA exam to do repairs?”

He said schools have not been functioning for the past three months and some of the infrastructural problems normally addressed during the July/August vacation could have been done during the covid19 stay at home period.

The question of vacation school repairs being postponed was one of several concerns raised by president of the TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) Antonia De Freitas in her union objecting to the SEA exam being done on August 20 and teachers coming out to school to help students prepare a month before the exam.

Garcia assured all repairs will be done in time for September but Indarsingh said he fears for the safety of students who will be going out to school in July. “Will the ministers be more proactive or will they wait until children are seated in the various classrooms and teachers supervising exams for something to happen before they take action to bring the schools to an acceptable health and safety standard?”

He recalled that the Couva West Secondary school has been plagued by problems in the past and closed on two occasions for plumbing problems which Garcia suggested was caused by sabotage, as well as a mould problem. “What excuse would Garcia hide behind this time?"