With thousands of Guyanese children returning to classrooms tomorrow, August 31, serious questions are being raised about whether every public school is genuinely ready to provide a safe, clean and healthy environment.
The latest concern comes from New Diamond/Grove Primary School, where A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament and educator Nima Flue-Bess has publicly challenged the condition of the school compound just 24 hours before children are expected to return.
Flue-Bess posted photographs on social media Saturday, August 29, showing conditions at the school and issued a direct warning to parents.
“Parents of New Diamond Grove Primary here are some images of what your child’s school environment looks like Today Saturday August 29th, 2026 and school will be open on Monday. Parents you should not accept this for your child.”
She identified a specific safety concern involving bees nesting in unused concrete bins and called for their immediate removal.
“The bees in the unused concrete bins must be removed also.”
Flue-Bess also addressed the workers expected to clean the compound, making it clear that a hurried exercise in cutting weeds will not be enough.
“To the weeders who show up to start weeding in the compound, ensure it is done properly.”
She ended by placing the spotlight on the local Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).
“Waiting to see the NDC in action tomorrow.”
The intervention raises uncomfortable questions about the Government’s much-publicised school-readiness exercise.
The Ministry of Education has spent recent weeks assuring parents and the public that schools across Guyana are being inspected and prepared for the new academic year. Education Minister Sonia Parag said schools were being assessed using a checklist covering areas including infrastructure, sanitation, accessibility, safety and the overall learning environment.
Parag also told regional officials: “We must not have any complaints when schools are reopened.”
Flue-Bess’s post suggests that the reality on the ground may be very different.
If bees are occupying concrete bins and vegetation is still being tackled on the eve of reopening, parents are entitled to ask how thoroughly schools are being inspected and who is ultimately responsible for declaring them ready.
And New Diamond/Grove may be only one example.
The Government has presented school readiness as a nationwide undertaking, with officials conducting inspections, maintenance and cleanup exercises ahead of Monday’s reopening.
That makes the condition highlighted by Flue-Bess more than a local inconvenience. It raises the broader question of whether the Government’s school-readiness programme is actually delivering safe environments—or whether some schools are being pushed across the finish line at the last minute simply so they can open their doors.
Children should not be the ones paying the price for administrative failures.
Teachers should not have to begin a new school year worrying about whether basic hazards in their compounds have been properly addressed. Parents should not have to inspect school grounds themselves to determine whether the environment is safe for their children.
The Government cannot spend millions on education infrastructure, boast about development and repeatedly proclaim its commitment to children while basic conditions at some schools remain questionable hours before reopening.
The Ministry has had months to prepare. It has conducted inspections. It has issued directives. It has established checklists. Now the children are coming. And parents have every right to demand that the schools they enter tomorrow are not merely open—but safe.
