The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

TEACHERS at CC Sweeting Senior High School protested outside the campus on Friday after weeks of power failures, warning that electrical faults have disrupted classes and created safety concerns for staff and students.

As students arrived for classes, teachers gathered outside the school chanting: “No fan, no light, kids can’t learn right.”

They also carried signs reading “keep the lights on” and “power the school, power the future”.

Kimberly Butterfield, shop steward for the Bahamas Union of Teachers, said the continuing electrical problems had become untenable and unsafe.

“Don’t just tell us, ok turn off the air conditions,” Ms Butterfield said, “cause that is what we had to do and load shed in order to make things work.”

She said the power supply to the school was insufficient and blamed that for repeated transformer failures and other electrical problems.

Ms Butterfield also raised concerns about what she described as live wires producing fire and electricity on the campus.

While acknowledging that the problems could take time to resolve, she said teachers wanted a clear timetable for repairs.

“They are saying six weeks,” she said. “We are asking for that to take place. But we need to know when will work commence, that is why we are here today.”

Special education teacher Gia Symonette said she and a colleague left a classroom after hearing a popping sound and seeing sparks and burning from exposed wiring.

She said her students were traumatised by the incident.

“Now my students are severely traumatized,” she said, “because as you know they don’t comprehend much but they know that fire is danger. So we just want to be safe.”

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology acknowledged the outages on Friday and said it was in contact with teachers.

The ministry said the electrical problems stem from a longstanding issue with the external power supply infrastructure serving the campus.

The school is supplied through two transformers, and the ministry said limitations with that infrastructure have affected the reliability of electricity to the campus.

Most recently, it said, an overloaded transformer serving the northern side of the school sparked and shut down, disrupting electricity to that section of the campus.

The ministry said it has been working with Bahamas Power and Light, Bahamas Grid, the Ministry of Works and the school’s leadership.

Technical assessments have been completed, a long-term solution has been identified and the resources needed for the work have been secured, according to the ministry.

“The Ministry understands the frustration of teachers, students and the wider school community,” the statement said, “and shares their desire to see the matter permanently resolved.”

The ministry said interim solutions are also being considered while permanent measures are implemented.

The protest comes amid power disruptions affecting schools elsewhere in The Bahamas, including Eleuthera, where frequent outages have also caused school closures.