PARAMARIBO – Statistics indicate that at least 838 students who did not find a spot in the 9th and the 10th grade of an AVO school are currently on the waiting list. Helmina Poese, the director of the AVO education system, assured that the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture would find a spot for all of these students.  She added that officials would spare no efforts in placing these students at a school and contacting the parents next week to inform them where their children have been placed.

 Poese made it clear that the students would be placed at a school near their homes. She expects a huge turnout of parents in the last week of September because most people who want to enjoy the vacation or even go to the hinterland only  start looking for a school for their children at the end of the summer vacation.  Statistics also indicate that 43 students also need a spot in the 11th grade. Several parents told Times of Suriname that they do not hope that education officials will put their children at schools that are located at remote locations. They also hope  that the ministry will keep in mind that the children who need a spot in the 9th grade and the 10th grade are younger than 15 and that they therefore should not have to travel hundreds of miles to reach their schools. The parents made it clear that the Ministry of Education must provide school buses so that their children do not have to be dependent on the private buses. “We can’t afford to pay for the bus every day so we would like school buses to be deployed.” Many parents pointed ted out that they are still losing sleep over the fact that the 9th and the 10th grade are overcrowded because many students who did not pass have to redo the entire school year. “I will stop worrying and I will start enjoying my vacation when my daughter has found a spot at a school,” said Stella Anson…[+]