DOGS AMONG DOCTORS AT THE GHS
It is said that “every dog has its day”. The dogs at the GHS temporary campus have been having more than a day. This Wednesday 19th February was another victory for the dogs as the students were once again forced to evacuate the compound due to the prevalence of fleas and ticks. Many of the children were bitten. However, that was not the worst part. Students report that concerted efforts were made by the authorities of the school to cover up the fact that the children were being bitten by fleas.
There have been accounts of teacher forbidding children to contact their parents. It is even reported that the leadership of the school tried to rally, no, bully, the students into compliance with the rousing tale that “the motto of the school is “Per Ardua Ad Alta” which means “Through difficulty to heights”; This is your difficulty so you need to focus on your education and stop complaining”. Many students could not comprehend why this stance was taken with one student remarking that “there is only one obvious choice. The health and safety of the students should be the priority”.
Now, I am all for instilling the need to persevere in our children, but at what point does that justify throwing the safety and wellbeing of our children out of the window? For information sake, fleas are small insects known as vectors. Vectors often carry infections through blood. While many persons can be bitten by a flea and only suffer severe itching and raised bumps as a result, some people can suffer and allergic reaction (hives, rash, shortness of breath and swelling). Others can be infected by a disease carried by a flea of which fever, headache, body aches, rashes, nausea, abdominal pain, weight loss, dizziness and weakness are the symptoms. As a parent, fighting the flu is already a big battle. Adding flea symptoms to that is too much. It may be that I lack the necessary skill set, but I am unable to look at a school of students and decide which one will suffer from anaphylaxis due to a flea bite. I am also unable to look at a school full of fleas and determine which one is carrying a disease.
The fact that this issue is reoccurring and comes on the heel of multiple reports of dog bites at the school, it begs the question, has the Ministry of Education of St. Vincent and the Grenadines forgotten that the well-being of our nation’s children should be their primary focus? Talking all things in one, in this digital age with talk of digitization and technological advancements, why is there not a concrete policy on cyber usage and cyber bullying? There have been many incidents around the country, this year alone (we are in February) where neither the spirit or the tenets of what a functioning education system have appeared.
The leadership of the GHS appears to be more focused on maintaining the façade of being ‘better than’, rather than actually prioritising the health and safety of its staff and students. For a 100+ year old institution that has sat at the top of the education hierarchy in SVG for decades, the lack of effort to lobby alumna and the government into improving the physical learning environment is concerning. The cherry on the flea sprinkled cake is the announcement that the school is closed due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’. It would appear that the vision of the staff of the GHS and the Ministry of Education are also being affected by the fleas and ticks because everyone else with eyes could have seen this coming from a mile away.
I blame us parents. I have heard a parent say that the dog, flea and tick problems persist because a dog has not yet bitten the right person’s child. I have seen parents lined up outside the GHS saying that “the school has not yet given us permission to take our children”. I am subject to correction here but under the law, the school does not have to “give a parent permission” to remove their child from the school compound especially where the issue of the child’s safety is concerned. If we ourselves choose to remain ignorant of our rights and responsibilities, we will then accept anything. I will remind us that we have a duty to protect our children. Indeed, every dog has its day. I think that it is about high time that we collectively find ours.
