Parents, teachers irate at government's 'neglect' of QC
By Samantha Alleyne
Parents and teachers of Queen's College (QC) are upset at the non-allocation of funds for the school's rebuilding in this year's budget and are calling on Education Minister to issue a statement on what they describe as government's neglect of QC. At a meeting yesterday of senior teachers and executive members of the QC Parent Teachers Association (PTA), which was held in the corridor of the school, since there is no auditorium, disgust was expressed that the government has allocated no money to rebuild the school. The school was gutted by fire in November 1997. The parents and teachers said that since the fire attention was not given to all subject areas, because the physical facilities to work are not there. They noted that this term is the exam term and the children need the facilities urgently in order to perform effectively. President of the PTA, Principal Magistrate Juliet Holder-Allen, said that when she first read the headline in the Stabroek News, 'No funds budgeted for QC rebuilding', she said to herself, "some one must have lost their mind." She said that the school is the senior secondary school in the country and students have to work very hard to gain entry and therefore such treatment was unfair. "We are not accepting this, the issue will be fought at all levels," she said. She disclosed that there will be another executive meeting to discuss the problem, and then in another three weeks a general meeting will be held to discuss what action would be taken. "But...we expect good sense to prevail and [that] there will be a review of this issue," the PTA president said. It was stated at the meeting that Minister of Education Dr Dale Bisnauth needed to make a statement on the issue. The parents and teachers said that the minister should not treat them with such "scant courtesy." Holder-Allen noted that "youths are a nation's most important resource and they will be contributing to its future, but when they are treated like this, what will they contribute?" Some of the problems of the school were cited. Teachers said there was limited space to teach the students and sometimes two to three classes are held in one room, or in cubicles and along the corridors. They said that the school is divided into two schools, senior and junior. The junior and senior schools are linked by a passageway and when it rains students and teachers have to walk in about six inches of water to move from one school to the other, teachers said. They also said that the children have to eat in their classrooms, in the corridors and under trees in the compound. A senior teacher showed the gathering clippings of newspaper reports in which the government had promised to rebuild the school. Quoting from one such clipping from the Guyana Chronicle dated November 29, 1997, the teacher said: "Finance Minister, Bharrat Jagdeo, yesterday announced that the government will next year rebuild Queen's College, the top Georgetown school which was seriously damaged in a fire earlier this month." The senior teacher also noted that in a Stabroek News issue on January 15, 1998 there was a headline which stated 'Some QC reconstruction to be completed by month end'. This teacher went on to say that when they returned to the school on March 10, 1998, they had a homecoming celebration and Dr Bisnauth, who had been invited, told them that the QC board had done phase one of the rebuilding and phase two would be done by the government. The teacher said that this should have been be done in August 1998. Part of phase two was the building of 21 classrooms and the erection of a 1,000-seat auditorium. The executives said that the burnt pillars that are still standing and the flooding of the walkways are tangible evidence of the government's neglect. They said that it is a serious breach of promise by the government and the victims are powerless to inflict punishment, but someone will pay dearly for the blatant neglect and the callousness in the new millennium. "We feel that the students who were deprived of the proper facilities will never forgive us nor will history," the senior teacher said. According to this senior teacher the consequences of the neglect are already being manifested and a serious danger signal is that fact the school was unable to capture any of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) regional awards as it had done in previous years. While not wanting to be the prophet of doom, the teacher said, it was unlikely that the school would capture any awards this year because it did not have adequate facilities to deliver the curriculum. In conclusion, the members of the meeting said that they hoped the government will review the issue, or they will take action. 
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