All dorms to have adequate house parents, security & fire prevention tools- Manickchand

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on Wednesday said the government is working towards ensuring that all secondary school dormitories are equipped with adequate facilities and tools, backed by enough staff to guarantee students’ safety.

She made the remarks while responding to queries about the $918 million supplementary allocation her ministry requested for secondary schools. This forms part of a larger $2 billion request by her ministry for supplementary funding.

And that request was approved by the Committee of Supply of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

According to the Education Minister, Cabinet took a decision to upgrade all dormitories so that they will each have functional, adequate washroom facilities; adequate beds and enough house parents and security staff.

Additionally, she said efforts are underway to ensure that all of the dormitories are also outfitted with adequate fire prevention and fire fighting tools and materials in keeping with advice from the Guyana Fire Service.

The Education Ministry is working alongside regional officials and the Ministries of Local Government and Home Affairs to assess what gaps need to be filled at soonest.

“We are looking to fill those gaps before September… they should all be implemented fully before September 4 [when school reopens],” Manickchand said.

In the aftermath of the devastating fire at the female dormitory of the Mahdia Secondary School that claimed 20 lives in May, Manickchand told reporters in June that the government is now moving to implement several measures across all schools and dorms to make them safer.