The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

LESS than a week after the early dismissal of classes of one public school due to “electrical issues”, another school was dismissed early yesterday for “plumbing issues”.

Students of Stephen Dillet Primary School were dismissed early and parents were asked to pick up their children “promptly” by 12.30pm.

“The Ministry of Education & Technical & Vocational Training wishes to advise parents of students attending Stephen Dillet Primary School that school will be dismissed today at 12.30pm due to plumbing issues. Parents are asked to collect their children promptly,” said the Ministry of Education in a public notice.

This incident comes six days after classes at CC Sweeting Senior High School were dismissed early due to electricity issues.

Belinda Wilson, president of Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT), said the issue needs to be fixed immediately.

“The BUT prefers the early dismissal especially if there is no running water, because students, teachers and support staff have to use the restrooms and washing of hands and flushing of toilets are a necessity. We prefer the early dismissal versus an outbreak due to unsanitary conditions,” she said.

Mrs Wilson added: “This plumbing issue needs to be fixed immediately.”

When asked if she thinks this plumbing issue is related to repairs done in preparation for the reopening of schools throughout August, Mrs Wilson said, “I don’t know if Stephen Dillet did any major work in August.”

Last Tuesday, the Ministry of Education announced the early dismissal of CC Sweeting Senior High School.

“The Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training advises parents of students attending CC Sweeting Senior High School that school has been dismissed effective immediately due to a defective transformer on campus,” the ministry stated at the time.

“Out of an abundance of caution, parents are asked to collect their children as soon as possible. The relevant agencies have been notified and teams are working to rectify the issue.”

Mrs Wilson had called on the problem to be fixed quickly.

“The Ministry of Education and BPL must ensure that this electrical problem is remedied in the shortest time. The teachers are ready to teach, but having no electricity is a major issue. The interruptions are hindering academic instruction. It must be corrected in the shortest time,” she said last week.

She said that the school has had this problem for several days.

These incidents come one month after concerns that schools wouldn’t have been ready to open in time for August 29 after many schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time, Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears said he was confident the work would be completed on time, though he did note the great number of structural defects that needed to be addressed in the process.