Teacher: I had to buy fan from my own pocket
Farm Primary and Infant School battling the heat
Published:Tuesday | September 5, 2023 | 12:12 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The Farm Primary and Infant School was busy renewing its battle with blazing-hot conditions that its students and teachers had to contend in the past as it kicked off a new year on Monday.
Educators overseeing the school’s first day of classes for the new term showed The Gleaner a few classrooms where several wall-mounted and standing electric fans, some of which were rusting with age, were strategically placed in a desperate effort to combat the poorly ventilated, oven-like conditions.
As students blissfully enjoyed their break time with cold bottled drinks nearby, grade five teacher Trudi-Ann Fletcher said efforts to seek sponsorship for fans at the school fell through.
“This year, I had to sacrifice my lunch money and bring the fan here to my classroom. I bought the fan and brought it here because I wasn’t getting any sponsors for fans in the classrooms. So this is my sacrifice,” said Fletcher.
“What happened last school year was that persons had to come outside for three minutes and get some fresh air. We had this excruciating temperature that was unbearable, and one of the times I thought I was going to go crazy,” Fletcher added.
Angelin Downer, the school’s grade-two teacher, whose assigned classroom has no fans, said she is prepared to keep her classes in the comparatively cooler computer room until her classroom gets two of the much-needed appliances.
“The school has a development fund, and the school chairman is promising that very soon we will be getting the fans, but, for now, the heat is on. I will be in the computer room and taking my students to the computer room until we get fans,” Downer said resolutely.
For Principal Richard Miller, the hot conditions in the classroom are detrimental to his students’ ability to focus on their studies.
“The children tend to get quite restless when it gets too hot, and we are not equipped with enough cooling systems as it relates to fans. The building is not so equipped for air conditioning, but we definitely need to put some more fans in place,” said Miller.
“Some classes have two fans each, some have just one, and these are just the regular wall fans and a few standing ones. On average, a class has about 22 students, so that cannot cool the room at all,” Miller added. “The options are that you bring water so you can have water even in your classes. Outdoor classes are an option also, so teachers can carry their classes outside to utilise the shaded areas.”