The Scarborough Secondary School in Tobago was evacuated for a second time in mere days, after electrical issues at the school were detected yesterday morning.
According to reports, around 8 am yesterday both teachers and students started to smell something burning emanating from the Fifth Form block of the school.
The school’s vice principal was alerted and the decision was taken to evacuate approximately 800 students to the nearby Shaw Park Recreational Grounds.
Last Friday, videos of a sparking light bulb, as well as a leaking roof and guttering surfaced on social media. The school was also evacuated and classes were eventually dismissed.
One teacher, who spoke to Guardian Media on the grounds of anonymity, said they thought the issues would have been dealt with over the weekend, but the problems still exist.
“We thought that the electrical issue that people saw on Facebook was fixed over the weekend. We came back and we met the same electrical issues. What they did, is that they turned off the electricity to the area that was recorded. Today, it’s the same Fifth Form area that reported they were getting an electrical burnt smell, so it’s the same ongoing issue which is why we were asking why we came out today, because it was not fixed, why bring us out, but we have taken a stand that the school is unsafe for occupation for both us and students and we will not be returning to put anyone at risk. These issues need to be resolved as soon as possible,” the teacher said.
Fire officials were called to the scene to survey the area for any risks or hazards.
Commenting on the situation, Divisional Fire Officer David Thomas said when officers conducted their assessment, they got the smell of burnt material in a specific area of the school.
He said the issue was a continuing saga as they have been called to the premises on numerous occasions to deal with similar matters. He said while a further assessment would be conducted, it was determined that there was a longstanding short-circuit issue
“The way electrical circuits work, once you have short-circuiting and overheating, materials can become susceptible to that heat and even though the problem is ratified, because electricity is mainly made up of heat, the materials were already weakened by the constant heat, due to the initial overheating and therefore it can still be showing the effects of the initial occurrences” he said.
Thomas said due to the make up of the electrical wiring, it was impossible to conduct a thorough investigation.
He said, “Most of the electrical wiring is in the roof of the building, therefore for us to make a proper pronouncement to ensure that all the necessary is done to avoid a reoccurrence, we are saying that the investigation has to go beyond what the eye can see, which will involve removal of the ceiling, so that we could thoroughly investigate and determine exactly what is causing this occurrence.”
He added: “We know that the wiring is aged and we know there has been additional load added to the circuit, therefore it might be that we have to go to the extent of replacing what is now existing, however before that could be concluded, we propose to do an in depth, detailed investigation, which will give us the information that would chart the way forward.”
Thomas said he was unsure of the length of time the procedure would take, stating that a team of stakeholders and experts needed to collaborate to complete the investigation.
Contacted for a comment, TTUTA Tobago Representative Orlando Kerr said he was in support of the decision taken by the staff of the Scarborough Secondary School.
He said TTUTA was alerted of the situation both on Friday and Monday. He said while he supports having classes for the benefit of students, safety must always be paramount.
“We have no issue with the division wanting to have school, but what we are concerned about is that when you have something as serious as this, you need to do all your checks and balances before you have persons return to that environment and very clearly that was not done and that is our disappointment, that you can’t just simply tell people it is okay to return, without doing the neccessary checks and balances and that is what would have happened here. I am very happy that nothing serious happened today, but the teachers and the other people who occupy the compound are well within their right to take that position” he said.
Kerr said he has not spoken to the administrator or Chief Secretary and Secretary of the Division of Education Kelvin Charles on the issue since they are aware of the well-ventilated problems.
He said it is well-known that the school has many challenges because of its age and several calls and recommendations for a new school were previously made.
He said TTUTA planed to have an independent assessment done on the school, where certain recommendations will be made
He said, “The reality is this, sooner rather than later that school will have to be decanted because the building cannot sustain with humans being in there, because the building is old. The Infrastructure, the plumbing, the electrical all those things are old, there are cracks on the building and so on, so in terms of going forward, TTUTA is going to have an independent person look at the building, because we are concerned about our members and of course the children and we are going to make recommendations to our members in terms of going forward. We cannot continue to have persons risking their lives on a daily basis to utilise that building” he said.
Efforts to contact Chief Secretary and Secretary for Education, Innovation and Energy Kelvin Charles to comment on the matter proved futile up to late yesterday..