Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 27, 2015 (SKNIS): The Honourable Shawn Richards, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, is pleased with the work presently being carried out on the temporary classes that would be used to house the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Formers of the Basseterre High School (BHS) as he toured the facility on Tuesday, October 27.
“We have a total of 18 additional classes we are doing here onsite,” said Minister Richards, adding that 3rd Formers are already there and that the 1st and 2nd Formers will be moving from their present locations and this would create space for optional subjects to be done.
“In total, that should be about 10-12 classes that will moving here, so that you would have an additional 5-6 classrooms available for optional subjects,” he said. “There are two spaces at Beach Allen Primary School that are used for computer related classes and Home Economics.
Minister Richards pointed out that work on bathrooms and staff rooms will commence shortly and explained the present arrangements with regards to students using bathrooms.
“In the interim, the 3rd Formers are using the bathroom facilities at the Washington Archibald High School (WAHS),” said the education minister, noting that in case of an emergency, the students are allowed to use the bathroom facilities at Beach Allen Primary School, with the supervision of a teacher.
Mr. Ron Collins, Acting Principal at BHS said that the new school term has been a work in progress but they were able to resume school as scheduled. He mentioned that there were a number of hiccups along the way but they were able to settle into the spaces and to allow for a sense of normalcy.
“The students have been very actively involved in their work,” said Mr. Collins. “The areas provide for their academic development still and teachers have been able to teach and deliver in the various areas, and so we have been managing pretty well.”
Mr. Collins said that they have faced various challenges but they were able to implement a number of measures to address them and to ensure that the whole education process was not disrupted in any way.
For the safety of the students, Minister Richards said that measures are in place. He made specific mention of the dust issue and pointed out that steps were made to mitigate against it.
“We have had assistance from the traffic department with putting in speed bumps to slow down the traffic in the area,” said Minister Richards. “As a matter of fact, the traffic department has indicated that they are mindful to make the stretch of road from WAHS, right across to Beach Allen and the temporary school into a one way street, again, to minimize the flow of traffic on this particular stretch of road.”
The classrooms are expected to be completed by the third week of December, 2015.