GEORGETOWN, Guyana , As the new school year gets underway, a growing collection of complaints from parents and teachers is raising questions about conditions in schools across Guyana, even as the Ministry of Education continues to use its public platforms largely to showcase new facilities, programmes, achievements and other positive developments.
Complaints shared with Opposition Member of Parliament Odessa Primus and reviewed for this report point to problems at schools in several regions, including shortages of teachers, overcrowded and extremely hot classrooms, inadequate teaching equipment, sanitation problems, unfinished dormitories, water and electricity shortages and troubling allegations about the treatment of children.
The complaints have not all been independently verified, and allegations against individual teachers or administrators require investigation and an opportunity for those involved to respond. But taken together, they present a picture considerably more complicated than the success stories dominating official education communications.
Region One: classrooms without boards, dormitory without basic services
In Region One, Barima-Waini, complaints have emerged from Hosororo.
At Hosororo Secondary School, a complainant said that more than 20 classrooms were without whiteboards or chalkboards during the second week of school. A photograph accompanying the complaint appears to show writing being done on plastic attached to a classroom wall.
The school itself is relatively new. Ministry records identify Hosororo Secondary as a Region One school.
Another complaint concerns the new Hosororo dormitory, where parents allege there are serious electricity and water problems. The complainant said fans are essential because children are housed in an enclosed building, but electricity is inadequate. The complaint also alleges that there was insufficient water for children to flush toilets.
One Region One teacher has also complained about the difficulty of surviving on a teacher’s salary, saying the financial strain has become so severe that the teacher is considering leaving the profession.
Region Three: Patentia reportedly loses teachers
At Patentia Secondary School in Region Three, a parent alleges that the school lost more than 12 teachers following recent promotions or transfers but received only three teachers in return.
The parent, whose daughter is in Grade 11, said the school currently has no Physics teacher, creating particular concern for students preparing for CSEC examinations.
The complaint raises a larger question about whether promotions and transfers are being coordinated with replacement staffing so that one part of the education system is not strengthened by creating shortages somewhere else.
Region Four: heat, overcrowding and disturbing complaints about children’s treatment
Several complaints have come from Region Four, Demerara-Mahaica.
At Covent Garden Secondary School, a complainant described severe overcrowding. More than 40 students are reportedly occupying a small space, with multiple classes sharing an area and another class having to walk through the teaching space.
The complaint alleges that there are no electrical points available to operate fans and that conditions become so hot that students and teachers have vomited, while some students have reportedly fainted.
At Company Road Primary School in Buxton, a parent complained that children continue to operate on a shift system while awaiting a promised new school. The Ministry announced construction of a new $440 million Company Road Primary School in 2025.
The parent says the temporary arrangement is approaching one year and describes the location as hot and uncomfortable, with teachers expected to complete substantial amounts of work during shortened school sessions.
Particularly serious allegations have emerged concerning St. Mary’s Primary School at Soesdyke. More than one parent has complained that children were not being given sufficient opportunity to eat because students who had not completed their work delayed the class break.
In a separate and more serious complaint, a relative alleges that a child returned home crying after her first day of primary school and said she had not been allowed to eat or drink because she was slow in completing written work. The family further alleges that the teacher struck the child on the back.
According to the relative, when the family contacted the teacher, the teacher acknowledged hitting the child and indicated that children who failed to finish copying work from the board were not permitted to eat or drink.
Those allegations are sufficiently serious that they warrant an immediate investigation by education authorities. Denying a young child food or water as punishment, if established, cannot reasonably be treated as an ordinary classroom disciplinary matter.
At Diamond Nursery School, meanwhile, parents complained that they and their children were kept outside until approximately 7:50 in the morning, creating difficulties for parents who then had to travel to work through already congested East Bank traffic.
Region Seven: teacher shortages and students unable to return
Two separate complaints concern Region Seven, Cuyuni-Mazaruni. At Three Miles Secondary School in Bartica, a parent of a Grade 10 student in the science stream says teachers are unavailable for certain subjects and that students are suffering as a result.
Farther into the region, another complaint concerns DC Caesar-Fox Secondary School at Waramadong, Upper Mazaruni. The complainant said the male students’ living quarters were still undergoing renovation after the school term had begun, resulting in students from Upper Mazaruni being unable to return to school immediately.
DC Caesar-Fox is also a Region Seven school. Government information places the school at Waramadong in Upper Mazaruni and has previously acknowledged overcrowding there.
This is particularly concerning because hinterland students who depend upon dormitory accommodation do not have the same options available to children who can simply travel home at the end of the school day. An unfinished dormitory can effectively become a barrier to accessing education.
Region Eight: concerns over toilets at Mahdia Primary
In Region Eight, Potaro-Siparuni, a parent has complained about the condition of toilets at Mahdia Primary School. The parent described the facilities used by children as dirty and foul-smelling and questioned why they remained in that condition despite cleaners reportedly being assigned to the school.
Sanitation in a primary school is not a cosmetic issue. It is a basic matter of children’s health, dignity and the minimum environment parents should expect when sending their children to school.
Problems extending beyond individual schools
Some complaints point to system-wide issues.
One teacher complained that educators are required to use the Education Management Information System, or EMIS, while school internet service is frequently unavailable. According to the teacher, staff are then pressured to use their personal mobile data to complete Ministry-related work.
Parents have also raised concerns about the suitability of traditional school uniforms in Guyana’s increasingly oppressive heat. One mother called for more breathable materials, particularly for primary-school girls, arguing that the commonly used material traps heat and makes already-hot classrooms even more uncomfortable.
She also called for schools to have backup electricity during blackouts so that fans can continue operating.
Village Voice News chose to highlight these issues because government communication cannot become a highlight reel while parents and teachers are simultaneously reporting serious problems from classrooms and dormitories. A Ministry of Education should be as willing to publicly identify a failing toilet block, teacher shortage or overcrowded classroom as it is to photograph a newly commissioned building.
The complaints reviewed for this report span at least five regions and involve primary, nursery and secondary education. Some concern infrastructure. Others involve staffing, administration and student welfare. Several could potentially be corrected quickly. Others point to deeper questions about planning, teacher deployment and the conditions under which children are expected to learn.
The appropriate response is neither to sensationalise the complaints nor to dismiss them.
It is to investigate them. Parents should be told whether the complaints are accurate, what corrective action has been ordered, who is responsible for carrying it out and when the problems will be resolved.
Guyana’s education story should certainly include the schools that are working. But it must also include the schools that are not.
