The Minister of Education, Science and Culture (minOWC), Marie Levens, said yesterday during a government press conference that the problem of shortage of school furniture will be history. Because the agreements with the companies for the supply of school furniture are being signed today.
The school officially started on Monday and school leaders from various schools already had to deal with a shortage of furniture on the first day. School leaders have already submitted a request to the ministry for chairs and tables before the start of the new school year. However, they have not yet received anything at the start of the new school year.
Parents were not pleased that their children had to sit on a couch to take lessons at some point. Together with the school leaders, they also notice that the classes are very large, with more than 30 students sometimes being placed in a class.
In some schools, the furniture are in a deplorable state and need to be replaced because they have lasted for years. The classes are now much larger, more chairs and tables are needed for the students. In addition to a shortage of furniture, there are also insufficient textbooks. School leaders hope that the ministry will also get involved in this as soon as possible.
In addition to the shortage of furniture, a number of students have not yet been placed. Paramaribo-South turns out to be a bottleneck, as this neighborhood is full of children. Moreover, little or no construction has taken place in this area, which means that the ministry has problems placing schoolchildren.
Due to lack of space, the classes are larger than normal. Many teachers find it inappropriate in having 30 and more students in a classroom because some classroom are not designed to accommodate and care for such a group. It is also not easy to teach such large groups because of the heat.
