Charles calls on Minister of Education to complete Reform Hindu School and nearby Early Childhood Centre
MP for Naparima Rodney Charles is calling on the Ministry of Education to pay the contractor outstanding monies owed for work already done so that the new, 85 percent complete, Reform Hindu School can be completed to accommodate the 150 pupils now housed in dilapidated conditions in a nearby crowded and leaking shed.
Parents are expected today to demonstrate their frustrations with the conditions under which their children are being educated.
Construction on the Reform Hindu School started in June 2014 under a collaborative arrangement with the SDMS Board whereby the Board provided the land and the State would build the school. Work has stopped months ago because of nonpayment to the contractor for work already done.
The Reform Hindu School is one of the very top performing schools in the country gaining 458 in the 2015 national, standardized tests known as the “Academic Performance Index”. This score means that Reform Hindu is classified as “excelling”. A score of between 241 to 400 means that the school is “mostly effective”. Between 81 to 240 means that the school is on “academic watch”. Under 81 means that the school is classified as an “academic emergency”.
“Pupils of Reform Hindu, despite having only 150 pupils, have appeared on many occasions on the list of the top 100 performers in the annual SEA examinations, and parents are anxious to continue this tradition of excellence in an environment conducive to learning” says Charles in whose constituency the school is located.
The school performs excellently in cultural competitions but is hampered in sporting and other outdoor extra curricula activities because of cramped conditions.
The MP is also asking the Ministry to open the 99 percent complete and ultra modern Early Childhood Centre located in the same compound as the Reform Hindu School. Outstanding monies owed to the contractor is reportedly the cause of the Centre remaining closed.
“We cannot aspire to first world status with our young children being educated in 19th century edifices,” say Charles.
Rodney Charles
MP for Naparima.