By Carlena Knight
Residents who may have school furniture in their possession have been put on notice that law enforcement will be coming to their homes and businesses.
Director of Education Clare Browne made the announcement just a few days ago, as he was speaking on the issue of the shortage of desks and chairs at schools across the island.
He mentioned that they are quite aware that persons have for sometime been going on to the various school plants and stealing the furniture for their personal use.
Due to those actions, he has sought the assistance of police to retrieve these items.
“We are taking them back, and so I want us to send the notice out there that if you have any chairs that belong to the government, take them back to the schools because if you don’t take them back, then we are coming for them. We are getting the police to assist us in getting back the chairs so that the children can have the chairs and desks to work from. People thiefing everything,” Browne said.
He revealed that in one isolated incident, police raided a bar and retrieved 11 school chairs from the property.
The shortage of school furniture has been a longstanding issue for education officials. This year will be no different, according to Browne.
“We are going to be a little short of furniture until such time as the Board [of Education] is able to acquire furniture. You know, we have a supply chain issue. Covid has created a serious problem and then the war in Ukraine also added to the issues that the world has been having, and so the Board would have indicated that their normal suppliers would have indicated to them that they were unable meet the furniture demands, the furniture requirements, in the way that they would have normally met it,” Browne explained.
Despite this hiccup, Browne added that preparations are going along smoothly for the 2022/2023 academic year that begins next Monday, September 5.
According to the most recent Cabinet notes, there is a plan to ensure that new technology is deployed to secure all school plants and their valuables 24 hours per day.
The construction of strong rooms, likened to a bank vault, is contemplated for storage of valuables as well.
Officials from the Antigua and Barbuda Union of Teachers (ABUT), the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Works will meet to discuss a reasonable alternative regarding school security.
It was also agreed that dark areas on the school plants will be illuminated, and the ABUT and the staff will help to determine how many and where lights are needed on the school compounds.
All schools are also to be fenced so that access in and out of school plants can be monitored.