Basseterre: St. Kitts, Thursday, April 03, 2024: The Ministry of Education continues to address the health concerns aired by staff and students of the Cayon High School (CHS) and has embarked on a thorough overhaul of the institution. The sanitization and refurbishing of the institution began on Thursday, June 13, and is projected to end in time for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year.
Director of the Project and Building Management Unit within the Ministry of Education Ms. Melva Walters shared,
“Early in the school term we would have had an issue that developed. We would have done some investigations. We would have discovered a possible mold issue, so we moved quickly to get the experts from the Bureau of Standards to visit the institution and conduct the relevant tests. The samples were taken and sent off to get the results, the results revealed there were high levels of mold in some areas within the institution. Having received the results, we [Ministry of Education] promptly acted. We closed the institution, and engaged in several site visits to help us pinpoint exactly what the issues are, where we need to focus our attention and what we need to do.”
Expressing relief, Ms. Walters conveyed, “Thankfully the type of mold found was not dangerous.”
Providing further details as to work being done at CHS, Ms. Walters noted,
“When we would have done our site visits, we recognized that in some instances, doors needed to be repaired or replaced. Windows needed to be repaired or replaced. In some instances, there were roof leaks that had to be repaired. We looked at the drainage, and possible areas that needed to be fixed. Presently, in the first phase, we are trying to get these immediate issues rectified. We are doing some work on the railings to improve the safety and security of the children. We already came in with some different service providers to look into repairing the windows and doors. We would have gotten cleaning companies to come in to do professional cleaning.”
