Philipsburg:--- Parents of some 83 students who registered to enter public or government subsidized schools earlier this year are still without placement. Acting Sector Director Qunicy Harrigan in an interview with Government Information Service said they were in meetings up until Thursday with the government subidized schools looking to see if those schools would assist in placing the students now that compulsory education has been implemented.
Of the 141, four to six year old that registerd with the education department only 56 of them were placed in the public schools Harrigan said. Harrigan said if the students cannot be placed in the government subsidized schools then government would have to begin creating space at the public schools for them.
The Acting Sector Director said they also noticed that some parents registered their children at more than one location and those are some of the things they need to sort out. Students who are not placed can expect to be out of school for the next two weeks as government tries to find a solution to the problem.
Harrigan said they are also confronted with a situation where locals and persons who are residing on the island legally are only now coming forward to register their children, all of which is creating some set backs. Parents are now advised to register their children at schools in their district and not the education department. Harrigan said the major problem facing them right now is the lack of qualified and competent teachers for the students that are not being placed. He said so far there is enough furnitures and locations for the additional students but teachers he said cannot be found. One of options the department of education has to hire more teachers but that Harrigan said would be the final alternative.
During these two weeks students who are going to be accepted by the government subsidized schools would have to be tested so that they can be placed according to their level of education.
Harrigan there has been a flurry of school registration at different school locations by parents of undocumented students, age 4-6 years old. This has caused a burden on the schools administration as a result the placement of these students has been delayed 1 – 2 weeks.