Guyana’s public schools are set to reopen Monday, but parents in several communities are facing the new academic year with concerns over cracked buildings, non-functional facilities, overcrowding and unfinished construction, raising fresh questions about whether the Government used the two-month school vacation to properly prepare the nation’s schools.
Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed has highlighted a series of problems at schools across the country, while another WIN parliamentarian, Dr. Ryan Richards, has documented additional concerns in Linden, Region Ten.
Guyana’s public schools closed for the August vacation on July 3 and are scheduled to reopen on Monday, August 31, for the Christmas Term, which runs until December 11.
That provided almost two months for authorities to identify defects, complete repairs and ensure that schools were ready before thousands of children returned.
Instead, several schools are reportedly beginning the new term with work unfinished and facilities in poor condition.
At Zeeburg Secondary School, parents were reportedly notified on Friday, August 28 — just three days before reopening — that structural defects affecting buildings on the compound would require Grades 7 and 8 students to attend separate half-day sessions.
Grade 7 students are scheduled to attend from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., while Grade 8 students will attend from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Mohamed said he had already highlighted Zeeburg on December 3, 2025, raising questions about why the reported structural problems remained unresolved.
“Guyana is now one of the fastest-growing and wealthiest countries in the world. We have unprecedented resources at our disposal. How is it that we cannot get the basics right? Schools were closed for eight weeks. There was an entire two-month school holiday during which these issues should have been identified and addressed.”
The concerns extend beyond Zeeburg. At Airy Hall Nursery School in Region Five, Mohamed said construction remains far from complete, leaving parents frustrated over the delayed project.
In Region One, he identified Port Kaituma Primary School, which serves more than 600 students, as another serious concern. Mohamed said information received by his office indicates that the structure shakes. WIN parliamentarians Natasha Singh and Dawn Hastings-Williams recently visited the school and observed conditions affecting students and teachers, he said.
At Mabaruma Primary School, parents have raised complaints about bats infesting the building and a deteriorated step used by more than 600 students.
One parent expressed frustration over years of appeals for improvements.
“We are tired of constantly having to beg for the necessary improvements year after year, yet nothing seems to change. Year after year, we are given empty promises, while the condition of Mabaruma Primary School remains extremely deplorable.”
The parent added:
“We deserve a safe, comfortable, and suitable environment in which to teach and learn.”
The latest concerns have now reached Watooka Day Primary School in Linden, where Dr. Ryan Richards, WIN Member of Parliament for Region Ten, and Regional Councillor Leola Narine conducted an inspection on August 29 ahead of Monday’s reopening.
According to Richards, the team found several areas of unfinished work and non-functioning facilities.
He reported that gutter installation had not been completed and that several toilets in the washroom facility were not functioning because they were not flushing.
Richards also said windows had been installed in one building shortly before the inspection and that the cement around them was still wet. The floors had not been tiled and were instead covered with vinyl, while construction debris and unfinished work had left the area in poor condition.
He questioned why significant work was still being carried out immediately before students were due to return.
“These observations clearly indicates a total lack of preparedness and planning by the Regional Education Department, after two months of vacation, why only now are works being done on this school for reopening on Monday?”
Richards called for immediate action by the Regional Education Department.
“The Regional Education Department, Region 10, needs to do better and have things in place for our children, for the proper reopening of school on Monday.”
The concerns are emerging despite a substantial allocation to education. Budget 2026 provides G$183.6 billion for the education sector, including G$24.3 billion for school infrastructure, new school construction, rehabilitation and maintenance.
That spending comes against Guyana’s unprecedented oil windfall. Since the country began commercial oil production in December 2019, billions of U.S. dollars in petroleum revenues have flowed into the State, dramatically expanding the resources available to government.
The contrast is becoming increasingly difficult for critics to ignore — a country earning billions from oil and allocating hundreds of billions of dollars to education is still confronting cracked buildings, broken toilets, unfinished works and last-minute classroom arrangements.
Education Minister Sonia Parag has been conducting inspections ahead of reopening, with the Ministry reporting preparations to ensure schools are ready for the new term.
But the reports from Zeeburg, Airy Hall, Port Kaituma, Mabaruma and now Watooka raise questions about whether inspections and maintenance are being completed early enough to address problems before students arrive.
Mohamed has called on parents and teachers nationwide to report structural defects, unsafe buildings, overcrowded classrooms, incomplete works and other conditions affecting schools.
The emerging picture suggests that the problem may not be confined to individual schools but could reflect wider weaknesses in planning, maintenance and project management.
With the school gates reopening Monday, the issue confronting Government is no longer simply whether classes will begin.
It is whether Guyana’s children will return to schools that are safe, functional, properly maintained and worthy of the nation’s enormous resources.
