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Opposition
Education Critic and MHA for the District of Port de Grave,
Roland Butler, is shocked the education minister is still
refusing to commit to a comprehensive review of mould, air
quality and general maintenance problems in all provincial
schools.
"In the last
month we have had several schools around this province close
because of air quality and other maintenance problems,@says
Butler.
AParents
and students have a right to know if their schools are healthy
and safe to attend. The ultimate responsibility to provide safe
and healthy schools rests with the minister of education. Yet,
we have situations this year where, only after extreme actions
by parents, the problems were dealt with properly. The only way
to restore confidence in the safety of schools in the province
is to conduct a comprehensive review and
make it public.@
In response to
questioning by Butler on this issue in the House of Assembly
earlier this week, the minister claimed to already know where
the problems were. She also indicated she would rather spend
money to address these problems, rather than carrying out a
comprehensive review. "First of all, I would like the list of
problems she acknowledges exists to be made public. Parents and
students around this province also need to know exactly the
health status of their schools. It would also be important to
know how this list was compiled and how the problems were
prioritized for action. I am very concerned that some of the
serious issues could possibly be overlooked if the review and
prioritization did not include a proper air quality
assessment."
The Liberal MHA
says he is also disappointed at the political approach taken by
the minister with respect to this very critical health and
learning issue. "This government is in the fourth year of its
mandate. It is time they accepted some responsibility for the
significant problems which exist in this province. The time has
long passed when they can blame everything on the previous
administration. Providing safe schools for all our children to
attend is a serious responsibility. The minister should be more
focussed on addressing people=s
anxiety and finding timely solutions, rather than going into
blame mode and trying to score political points."
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