Mahdia tragedy: Gov’t mulls bus service or new school for Micobie students

Some parents in Micobie, a remote community in Region Eight (Potaro- Siparuni), have expressed safety concerns about sending their children back to school in Mahdia after the recent horrific fire.

As such, Education Minister Priya Manickchand said her ministry is exploring the use of a bus service to transport the children to and from Mahdia or whether a secondary school should be constructed in that community.

“Some students have indicated their reluctance and inability to return to that secondary school (in Mahdia),” Maickchand, however, told reporters on Wednesday.

Micobie is about an hour’s drive from Mahdia. With no secondary school in this community and other remote communities, many students across the region end up attending the Mahdia Secondary School.

But the deadly fire at the school’s female dormitory has left parents concerned about their children’s safety. A total of 20 children, 19 girls and one boy, died as a result of that fire.

Last Thursday, as hundreds of people gathered in Micobie for the funeral of 11 girls who perished in the recent fire, one villager, John Andre, highlighted how difficult it is for children in the lower Potaro community to further their studies.

He asked President Dr. Irfaan Ali, who attended the funeral, to consider implementing measures that will offer relief and peace of mind.

The President has already committed to examining new schooling opportunities for the children.

Manickchand noted that if the government decides to build a new school, it would have to scout for locations where those children could be comfortably accommodated.