Parents in Tortola are voicing their concerns over the recent spate of school closures caused by power and water outages. The interruptions to the school day have caused significant inconvenience, prompting calls for better resilience in the territory’s schools and improvements to the water and power networks.
Speaking with 284 Media, a group of parents expressed their frustration following the sudden cancellation of classes at several schools, including Elmore Stoutt High School, Joyce Samuel Primary School, and Alexandria Maduro Primary School. The schools were forced to close on Wednesday, November 8th, due to a lack of water on the campuses.
This incident comes just weeks after schools in East End had to remain closed on October 19th due to a power outage.
Parents are calling for measures to ensure that every school on the island has sufficient water storage to keep facilities, at least one male and one female bathroom, operational during a water outage. This, as they questioned why, given the territory’s longstanding water supply issues, cisterns are not being considered a necessity for local schools.
Parents also raised concerns about how they are informed about the outages and the subsequent cancellation of classes. They pointed out the difficulties they face in having to leave their jobs unexpectedly to pick up their children and the lack of planned supervision, particularly in a case where some workplaces do not allow children on site.
The situation has further highlighted the scarcity of public spaces where children can do homework or study in a safe environment, such as libraries and youth centers, which are commonplace elsewhere in the world.
Parents are appealing to the relevant authorities to take action to make schools across the territory more resilient to utility outages and to continue efforts towards improving the Territory’s water and power networks.