Burnt Savannah Primary goes hybrid

WESTERN BUREAU:

While the Burnt Savannah Primary in St Elizabeth opened its doors on Monday, only grade six students were accommodated as the school is still reeling from the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa.

The school has been forced into a hybrid mode with the students from grades one to five attending classes online as two key classroom blocks remain incomplete despite promises that they would have been ready to accommodate all 335 students.

“I think about a week or so ago when Senator [Marlon] Morgan visited, he spoke with [the contractor], and he was told that the two blocks would have been completed before today,” Principal Janet Stephenson-Atkinson told The Gleaner. “But as we speak, only one block is partially completed. So, there is nothing concrete to say at this point.”

She said that while the grade five block received a new zinc roof, electricity has not been restored, and work remains ongoing on the grade six block.

Stephenson-Atkinson said the school cannot have all students on the compound while construction is ongoing.

Nonetheless, she said the school has received 20 new tents from the Ministry of Education, which will create temporary classrooms and allow more students to return to physical classes.

“Those are on site to be erected on the ball field, so we can actually get our students on a phased basis back on the face-to-face modality, so it’s a step-by-step process,” said Stephenson-Atkinson.

The Ministry of Education had previously acknowledged that some hurricane-related repairs would not be completed by September 7 and had promised to provide the tents to accommodate students while construction continued.

During the passage of the hurricane last October, extensive damage was done to the grades five and six blocks, the children’s bathrooms, part of the grade one block, and a board building housing six classes, the administrative block, and the library. A 100-year-old building was subsequently condemned.

Despite the difficult circumstances at the school, Stephenson-Atkinson said the students returned in good spirits and understand the challenges they are now facing.

“We’re trying to get them back into the swing of things,” she said, noting that the children are particularly eager to return because of the importance of upcoming examinations.

The principal said 164 students, including 51 grade six students, were engaged in the hybrid arrangement.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com