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Parents of children attending the Princes Town Presbyterian School No One say they will keep their children away from attending classes until they get a new school.
President of the Parent/Teacher Association Nola Ramjohn-Karim said some 900 pupils share a compound and attend classes in shifts during the day.
Karim said this yesterday during a protest action held outside the Ministry of Education’s office , St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain.
Parents marched and carried placards which read: Our classroom is in the stockroom, Build Pres 1 now.. Help us...We want our promise school now.
The school, which was originally housed at Edward Street, was relocated to Tasker Road.
Karim said parents have protested many times in the past few years with no results from the ministry.
“We are here this morning and we still have not gotten any answers as to when our school will be built. It is an ongoing story for the past three years. We have been relocated to Tasker Road for the three years and that was suppose to be a temporary basis,” she said.
Karim said Education Minister Anthony Garcia promised the parents a school since 2017.
“We are still here now waiting for this school. We understand in March this year he said it was no longer a priority and it could not be built.”
She said the Presbyterian Board gave permission in 2016 for a school to be built and the old school was demolished last year.
“We want a new school come September. Our children are on a shift system. This is only primary school on a shift system,” she said.
Karim said the parents met with Garcia twice but nothing has resulted.
“We want to know what is the problem and we know it is not money,” she said.
She said parents were not looking for a temporary location for the students but a new school.
Officials at the Education Ministry said Garcia spoke about the issue many times in the Parliament and was aware of the situation.
Attempts made to contact Garcia and members of the Presbyterian Primary School Board proved futile. Garcia is said to be out of the country.