The benevolence of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in facilitating the relocation of the Grazettes Primary School has been lauded by the Acting Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Senator Harry Husbands.
Following a tour today of the two sites ??? Breath of Life Church in White Hall and the Ebenezer Seventh-day Church, Eden Lodge, both in St. Michael – Senator Husbands said: ???This is not the first occasion that the Grazettes Primary School has had to use the facilities of the Seventh-day church. During EDUTECH when the school was being remodelled, we had to use it for a longer period.
???But certainly, I think we want to place on record???our sincere thanks and gratitude to the leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist church ??? both churches. At very short notice they agreed and facilitated the Ministry of Education and the school in every way possible and we just want to say publicly how extremely thankful we are that they, without much thought, accommodated us in difficult circumstances,??? he added.
The Ministry was prompted to temporarily relocate the school following a fogging exercise that was said to have left a ???lingering odour???. Currently, the Ebenezer Seventh-day Church accommodates the Nursery to Infants B students, while Classes One to Four are housed at the Breath of Life Church.
As he acknowledged the historical link between the church and education, the Acting Education Minister noted that others in society also needed to lend assistance.
???We certainly wish that more and more institutions in the country were as flexible and willing to work with Government agencies as possible??? But certainly the church must have the interest of the youth of the country at heart. This is an example of the willingness of the church to assist the young people of the country of getting over the challenges so that they can get on with their learning,??? declared Mr. Husbands, a former teacher.
Also taking the opportunity to commend the School Meals Department (SMD) for their involvement, the Acting Minister said that the SMD???s staff from Grazettes Primary proved ???very willing to work??? with the Ministry.
He told the media: ???As a matter of fact, the conditions under which the meals are being served at both sites are probably better than in some schools. So we are very grateful for the assistance that the Schools Meals Department has given us. And, again the staff of the SMD who are stationed at the school; I???ve met them and they are all satisfied with the surroundings and are willing to work with us over the next couple of weeks.???
Meanwhile, Principal Etwyn Bynoe said from what she had heard, parents seemed more comfortable with the move to the two locations. Pointing out that thus far there were no complaints about the buses, she explained that today???s buses had made two trips with respect to the younger students at the Ebenezer site because parents wanted to accompany their children. There was, however, one bus trip to the Breath of Life Church.
The media was given the assurance that towards the end of the week, the Chief Education Officer and the Principal of Grazettes Primary would be able to address any issues which might arise with respect to the buses.
joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb