By Neto Baptiste
The Principal of the successful Princess Margaret School (PMS), Dr. Colin Greene, is spearheading an effort to unite secondary school principals across Antigua and Barbuda, as they seek to effect positive changes regarding the annual Interschools Track & Field Championships and the infrastructure at the YASCO Sports Complex.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Greene said he has already reached out to his colleagues and is hoping for positive feedback.
“I had a conversation with several of my colleague principals and we’re supposed to be meeting. I don’t know if all will come but I hope we get all because we need to send a message. I am not sure I want to go back to YASCO next year the same way, and if I get the support of my colleague principals, we should not take back people’s children to YASCO without certain basic amenities and one of those basic amenities must be the bathroom facilities,” he said.
“Those in authority speak and go on the mike and smile; I don’t know where they just get heart from and, as my grandmother would say, where they get gall. I just get upset and it’s getting to a point where itis making me upset in my drive so it’s going to be critical going forward and I hope I find the support of my colleague principals. We need to get together and not in an antagonistic way and make proposals as to what can make the product better,” he added.
PMS won both the Boys’ and Girls’ categories of the championships which climaxed on Sunday at the YASCO Sports Complex. They amassed 340 points to claim the Girls’ division while compiling 346 points to win the Boys’ category.
Greene said he understands the challenges faced by organizers regarding the state of the facility and highlighted what he thought was a major issue despite the overall success of the meet.
“I think there was a good attempt to make life easier. They provided more tents for the schools that were there. Obviously, there were some other issues with rain that caused the ground to be damp in some areas. They had a major hiccup on the Friday where the bathrooms arrived very late and that, kind of almost put in a space of depression because I don’t understand that 20-something years on and two governments and we’re still at the same place. When I saw girls by the droves wanting to go to the bathroom, bending up like ‘s’ and running out to see if they could go to the former NTTC [building] — and some teachers were driving them to see if they could catch a school — I said to myself, ‘this shouldn’t be’,” the principal said.
It is the fourth straight year since the championships restarted in 2021, following the Covid-19 pandemic, that PMS has won both categories.
St Anthony’s Secondary School (SASS) and Antigua Girls’ High School (AGHS) were distant second place finishers in the Girls’ category after having both amassed 128 points. Sir Novelle Richards Academy (SNRA) was third with 96 points.
In the Boys’ category, St Joseph’s Academy (SJA) finished second with 148 points with Antigua Grammar School (AGS) in third place with 146 points.
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