First year students of the general nursing programme offered at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC) claims they have been without a classroom for the past several weeks.
One of the students, who requested anonymity, told St. Lucia News Online (SNO) recently that a few months before that, the building in which they occupied had a mold infestation.
“We were instructed that the small wooden structure that we occupied would no longer be utilized, due to the mold and the numerous complaints of students getting respiratory infections,” the student said.
However, the administration allegedly did not grant a stable classroom to the students and they are now being forced to move around the college in search of empty classes.
“Sometimes we are chased from classes which have already been assigned to other students. It is unfair, especially after the recent raise in tuition,” the student complained bitterly.
But more than that, they claim that lecturers themselves do not seem to care about the situation and have said to the students, “it’s your education, so do something about it.” Some have allegedly said to the students that they should have tolerated the mold and remain in the infested classes.
“It is unfair to nursing students. They need to be treated better than that. They need lecturers to respect them and a comfortable and mold-free classrooms,” the student added.
SNO understands that students are afraid to protest because of fear that grudges maybe held against them, which can result in unfair treatment by lecturers and other staff members.
Meanwhile, Principal of SALCC, Olivia Saunders, admitted that the college has a “serious issue of air quality”, but said they are addressing it, with the assistance of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).
“We have also engaged Lewis Industries to do a thorough wash down of the entire campus. This will be done in conjunction with CARPHA,” she told SNO on Wednesday.
Saunders said she is aware of the issue relating to the first year nursing students, noting that as soon as the issue was brought to her attention, they were moved from the affected classroom.
“As far as I am aware, they are being accommodated elsewhere. It may not be the classroom that they are accustomed to, or were assigned to originally. But I am not aware that nursing students not having a classroom.”
However, she did admit also that the students are being moved from one classroom to another, based on their availability.
“We’ve had situations where we had to move persons around in order to accommodate students especially. We are using our boardrooms, meeting rooms and conference rooms as well as classrooms, so that the students could be accommodated. Where we are sure there are issues of mold or serious air quality, we are shutting down those rooms, because safety is very important for us.”
Saunders told SNO that now that there is a permanent facilities manager and CARPHA is now on board, the issue should be properly addressed at least before the beginning of the next semester.
(5)
(1)