Classes have been suspended for students of the Beterverwagting Primary School and the Region 4 Special Education Needs Centre, Minister of Education, Sonia Parag disclosed today.
The Primary School and Special Needs Centre, which are located in the same compound, have been battling a pigeon infestation for over three years. In recent weeks, the situation has worsened.
Today, the Minister of Education explained that classes have been suspended for the rest of the week to allow for measures to be put in place to keep the pigeons away.
Those measures include the installation of additional mesh material in open sections of the building.
“What we have done, is that we are going to be covering the exposed areas with some mesh and we will try to do that over the weekend when the children are not in school,” Minister Parag said, while noting that the infestation was an ongoing issue.
She said although the problem is not necessarily a matter for the Ministry of Education, but rather a Regional issue, her Ministry will do whatever is necessary to bring an end to the infestation.
A number of teachers and students of the school fell ill this week and had to be rushed to the Enmore Hospital. However, Minister Parag said based on the medical examinations conducted on four of the affected children, their illnesses were not linked to the infestation.
“We were able to have the children be taken to a hospital with the consent of their parents of course, and they were assessed, examined by a doctor at the Enmore Regional Hospital and it was determined that it was not related, that’s what we were informed, and so they were okay,” Minister Parag said.
On Wednesday, a number of parents threatened protest action over the state of the two schools. Several classrooms would constantly be covered in pigeon droppings.
The parents worry that the droppings were making their children ill.
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