Leaky roof and faulty electrical outlets still persist at the Boca Secondary School even while work is ongoing with the hope of getting the school in a state of readiness for the new school year in September.
This newspaper learnt that the problems were observed as the form five students and teachers returned to school in June in preparation for the sitting of CSEC examinations.
Chief Education Officer (CEO) within the Ministry of Education, Angela Findley told this newspaper recently that the Ministry was assured that there were safe spaces for the activities of teachers and students, while work is ongoing.
As it relates to a report of no electricity at the school, the CEO revealed that “it was a case of the electrician doing a temporary disconnection to undertake a critical piece of work.”
Nonetheless, Mrs Findley noted that the work which was in progress prior to the COVID-19 lock down, resumed in accordance with the COVID-19 r e g u l a t i o n s .
She said a hand over date of the school to the Ministry is not yet known.
Despite remedial work carried out during last Christmas vacation, in January 2020, reports were that teachers and students did not feel safe, as the electrical problems that plagued the school in recent times, persisted.
During last year, the school’s occupants experienced shocking circuits and the explosion of one of its meters during the last week of the last term in 2019, forcing the early closure of the school term.
More so, the issue also impacted the students doing the subject Clothing and Textile as there was no electricity to operate machines. This caused a setback in doing their School Based Assessments (SBAs)
The interruption was coupled with water leakages from the roof into classrooms when it rains.
Nonetheless, in a press release, the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development noted that the school passed another inspection conducted with key personnel from GRENLEC, and engineers from the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Western Electronics on Tuesday January 07, 2020.
It promised that the replacement of the roof, which was repaired only two years ago, is high on the list of priorities.
