By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

A SHORTAGE OF teachers, classroom size and “piled up garbage” were some of the concerns expressed by Bahamas Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson as public schools opened yesterday.

Ms Wilson said the public school system once again does not have an adequate number of teachers for the number of students and classes.

However, she told The Tribune she has been assured by the Ministry of Education that they are in the process of bringing new teachers on board to fill the gap.

“I have a couple of concerns that were brought to me by teachers across the country.”

“In Eleuthera, Gregory Town Primary needs more teachers and they are also still in the Lodge Hall and wondering when they will be moving out and getting their own school. It has been two years now and they are still there,” she said.

“C H Reeves is also in need of several teachers and janitors. Uriah McPhee also needs teachers and so does Cleveland Eneas and several other schools. So there is a shortage of teachers again. But I spoke with someone in Human Resources in the Ministry and they said they are still in the process of employing and recruiting. So they have not completed their hiring, that is what they told me.

“So I have to wait and see. I have also been told that several schools have garbage collection issues and construction debris. It is still early in the week so I cannot say I am pleased yet. I have also been told that C V Bethel has a large number of students again this year.”

Ms Wilson also congratulated the government for investing nearly half a million dollars in Uriah McPhee and Stephen Dillet Primary – two schools that were plagued with issues last September.

“I am pleased that the government fixed the issues with Stephen Dillet and Uriah McPhee,” she said. “Despite the ministry saying nothing was wrong last year, I see they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars fixing the air conditioning in the schools. So hopefully the students and teachers will have a great school year and no interruptions because of the heat. Now I only hope BEC stays on because air conditioning without electricity doesn’t make sense.”

Education Director Lionel Sands said last week despite the many challenges that plagued Uriah McPhee and Stephen Dillet Primary Schools last year, both institutions were expected to open “without any problems” on September 1.

Mr Sands said the Ministry of Education has spent more than $500,000 on upgrades to ensure the issues that caused closures at both schools last September do not resurface.

Overall, the Ministry of Education has spent $7.7million on school repairs across the Bahamas – $500,000 in Grand Bahama, $1m in the Family Islands and about $6.2m in New Providence. All public schools are expected to open on time.