Several schools that are located in Paramaribo were closed last Tuesday because of the flooding that was caused by the heavy rainfall last Monday.

One of the principals told Times of Suriname that she went to school early Tuesday to assess the situation because she knows that the school is flooded after each heavy rainfall. “I saw that the school was partially flooded and that some of the classrooms still had junk that was floating on the water so I called the Inspection before instructing the teachers to inform the parents that the school would be closed,” said the principal.

A concerned parent told Times of Suriname that he sent his children to school but that they returned home after a short while. He pointed out that the flooding issue has existed for many years and that he wonders when the government will finally come up with a structural solution. Several principals also want to know when the flooding issue will be addressed.

A teacher who works at a primary school located at Flora explained that she has worked at the same school for the past nine years and that there is always a problem in the rainy season. All of the principals who ran this school informed the Ministry of Education Science and Culture of this problem but nothing has been done about it. The teachers and the parents hope that the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture will address this issue soon…[+]