By VENUS HONORE-GOPIE Thursday, November 26 2009

PARENTS of students attending both El Dorado West and East Secondary Schools yesterday expressed full support for Education Minister Esther Le Gendre’s decision to authorise the ‘staggering’ of school hours at both schools to ensure students from each school do not mingle with each other.

Several parents of students attending El Do West said they now have to adjust to the hours with the school now starting at 8 am and ending at 2.30 pm.

They welcomed the move and are willing to adjust to the school hours which will last until the end of the term.

Gary Hercules said the move is a good one but buses from the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) should be implemented as soon as possible to avoid clashes between students of both schools.

Hercules said the police should also continue to patrol around the school and the Priority Bus Route (PBR) where students from the schools would usually assemble for transportation.

Minister of Education Esther Le Gendre announced at a press conference on Tuesday in the wake of a violent clash between students on November 17, that the ministry will be deploying PTSC buses at the schools to transport students away from the school compound after school was dismissed.

Le Gendre also added that the ministry was seeking to expand scanners at the schools which were already implemented in some 30 schools. Anthony John, whose son is in Form 5, at El Do West also welcomed the move by the ministry and was in support of it, although he said he would have to adjust to the time in picking up another child who attends to El Do East.

Delano Nurse a father of a Form 3, female student of El Do East said the staggering of the school hours which begin now at 8.30 am and end at 3 pm was not a problem for him. He said he also embraced the move to install scanners at the school and it was a good decision by the ministry. “The time would not affect me but, the police must continue to patrol around the school compound and the PBR.”

Sherma Almarales, head of Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of El Do West said the PTA supports the move by the ministry, since it was an initial start in addressing the problem. She said she believes that it was a long term process and was not one that could be solve immediately, since a lot of it had to do with parenting.

Scanners have been installed by the National Maintenance Training and Security Company Limited (MTS) at both schools and should be in use by today.

The Education Facilites Company Limited (EFCL) will be completing block work to a retaining wall behind both schools and will be installing razor wire on top of the fence which consists of the phase one of the projects expected for completion within two weeks.