PARAMAIRBO -The enrollment of preschoolers commenced at the St. Bernardusschool on Wednesday. Parents assembled in front of this primary school which is located at Bernarddorp in the Para District on Tuesday afternoon in order to find a spot for their child. The principal pointed out that there was only room for 32 children. Reports indicate that more than 70 parents had camped out in front of the school.

She also pointed out that from the moment she became principal in 2017, she has repeatedly urged the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture to come up with a structural solution, so that parents do not have to spend the night outside the gates of this school. But no solution has been presented yet. The school officials registered the names of the parents whose child did not find a spot at the school and the information was sent to the Ministry of Education. The principal is puzzled by the fact that the government does not build more schools to address the issue.

“Many children live in this area but I can’t enroll all of them because I only have room for 30 pupils,” said the principal. Every year there is a huge turnout in front of the school on the day of the enrollments. The principal also deemed it regrettable that some children will not have access to education, because their parents lack the funds to send them to schools located at Onverwacht and Lelydorp. Many parents who did not manage to enroll their child at the St. Bernardusschool expressed their disappointment. “I came here early yesterday because I was told that many parents had already gathered in front of the school.

Unfortunately I did not find a spot for my daughter,” said Haidy Jubithana who is puzzled by the fact that there is only one small primary school in the entire area. Other parents pointed out that more classrooms should be added to this school to create more room for children from the neighborhood…[+]