As the second week of school comes to a close, parents of students at the Mt Hope Secondary School are concerned about their children’s safety because of its dilapidated state, and are calling on the Education Ministry to rectify the structural issues.

They voiced their concerns to Newsday outside the school on September 12.

Parents have lamented the flooding issues, exposed electrical wires, termite infestation and leaking toilets and have questioned why the ministry has not taken swift action.

One father of a form-three student said to the ministry, “Get your act together and see about the children.

“If it was some other, prestigious school, something would have been done already."

He said in the three years that his child has been a student, there had been no improvement in the condition of the school.

“I am worried about my child’s safety. From what we saw with some of the classrooms, the roofs are deplorable and are falling in. Plus there is exposed electrical (wiring).

"We don’t know how that could change from being safe to extremely dangerous. You don’t know if a child might touch it or if something acts off. Any parent will be concerned.”

Roxanne Villaroel complained about the faulty toilets and called for the school to be upgraded.

“The state of the school is not suitable for children. I have a girl and the toilets are not working, it is leaking and the doors cannot close.

"When rain falls it is flooding. Children are hopping around and they could slip and fall.

"Electrical wires are exposed, they can get shocked.

[caption id="attachment_1108186" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A section of the Mt Hope Secondary School as photographed on September 5. - File photo by Ayanna Kinsale[/caption]

“There is a lot to be done at the school. I was a past pupil here and now I am 37 years old, and nothing has been done or upgraded. No paint or nothing. It’s the same thing and a little worse.

Villaroel said the children need to be in a school in which they were comfortable.

"Woodlice are eating the furniture. How will the children sit and do work? They would be uneasy.”

Villaroel noted the dilapidated state of the school’s new building, which was next to the current building. Newsday noticed overgrown grass on the building. The paint is peeling and fading and parts of the roof are falling in.

“Look at what is happening to the new school. Everything is gone. Whatever was done is now abandoned. Everything that was put out for that school, bandits took it.”

Marlee Francis said the overwhelming dust had affected asthmatic students who had been away from school as a result.

She said some parents had been posting complaints on social media in an attempt to prompt some action from the ministry.

“We have been trying to get attention. No repairs have been done and nothing is being done. They blocked some of the forms three and five blocks and they have shifted to other places because they are just not safe.”

She said the Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) protest on September 2 had res