Barbados Union of Teachers Advises Ann Hill School Teachers on Returning to Classroom Amid Safety Concerns

The Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) is advising teachers at the Ann Hill School not to return to the classroom as it is unclear if it is safe to do so.

Chairman of the union’s Health and Safety Committee Julian Pierre told Barbados TODAY that this instruction was given as teachers awaited the results of an environmental test that was recently conducted at the Pine Plantation Road, St Michael school.

In fact, Pierre, who is also the union’s first vice president, reported that for the past four to five weeks, classes have not been conducted and teachers were supervising students in the corridors until the end of the school day.

The union is also concerned about ongoing repairs at the school that are not being done adequately.

The health and safety committee chairman’s comments follow the Ministry of Education’s declaration that repairs were done to the school plant and it was safe to return to the classroom.

“The BUT is unaware as to the safety of reentering classrooms at the Ann Hill School in the absence of the environmental report which the union still has not received. In the absence of the report from the environmental hygienist, the BUT cannot deny nor confirm the status of safety to return to classrooms, as the findings of the report would have to be known or shared with the union, which up to this [Monday] morning has not been received. The test was supposedly done in the week of Independence.

“We have had schools such as St John’s Primary and Luther Thorne who got their tests done afterwards and it seems their results are sooner forthcoming than Ann Hill’s. St John has been relocated and Ann Hill is still awaiting their report,” Pierre said.

He said teachers have been out of classrooms citing issues of leaking roofs, mould and other environmental issues since November 8, 2023. Ten days later, on the weekend of November 18, work got underway to address the issues.

But Pierre said up to now, the problems have not been properly fixed.

“The roofs of blocks are still leaking, being ‘fixed’ repeatedly with workmen leaving debris and garbage like cigarette butts on the ground around the property. The school continues to remain open even though work is continuing almost daily to rectify issues. The teachers feel neglected by the employer. Some, as well as the students, have been falling ill due to the amount of dust coming on the school compound from the construction of the fire station next door,” he said.

However, in a press release on Sunday, the ministry said work on the school’s roof was completed and it was “satisfied that the students can return safely to their classrooms”.

On Monday, it said school was in session as “teachers at the Ann Hill School are on the job”, adding: “A check with the principal revealed that teachers were engaging their students outside of the classroom [and there would be] a tour tomorrow [Tuesday]. While all of the necessary works have been completed, teachers indicated that they would prefer to wait on the results of the environmental testing before returning to the physical classroom.”

Pierre said that even though this was the last week of school before the Christmas break, the students and staff needed to be relocated to a satellite site as soon as possible.

“We had a meeting with the ministry on November 21 and the teachers suggested going online for the rest of the term. It has not been accepted by the ministry and the school has not been closed either. We would like the school to be relocated, effective immediately, until all the work is completed properly and inspected and the results of the environmental test are shared,” he said.

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