As record breaking temperatures impact the wellbeing of students and their performance in the classroom, Chief of Staff, Lionel “Max” Hurst has announced that only the hottest schools in Antigua and Barbuda will be fitted with air conditioning units.
M.P. for St. Mary South, Hon. Kelvin Simon is outraged that although the Gaston Browne administration acknowledges the impacts of climate change, they have failed to install air conditioning units to ensure climate control in all schools as originally promised. According to M.P. Simon, instead of prioritizing the welfare of students, the government continues to offer a litany of flimsy excuses.
Simon rejects Hurst’s claims that the government is prioritizing the hottest and most uncomfortable classrooms in an effort to optimize resource allocation. Instead, Simon believes that the process of AC installation is being politicized. He questions why eight months after the installation of air conditioning units began at Urlings Primary School, those units are still not functioning.
“This just confirms our suspicions that the installation of AC units by the Ministry of Education at the Urlings School was nothing but a political gimmick during the by-election. They are playing dirty politics and ignoring the welfare of our students,” Simon stated.
M.P. Simon references an article in the Observer newspaper, dated October 18th 2023, where Education Minister Daryl Matthew admitted that with the stifling temperatures, all classrooms will be outfitted with air conditioning units.
Simon does not believe that any objective criteria can be used to determine which schools are hotter than others. He hopes that the installation of AC units will be fast tracked to ensure climate control in the classrooms and that the process will not be further politicized.
“This is just hypocrisy coming out of the SIDS4 Conference. One would expect that we would be positioning our youth to drive the innovation and resilience necessary to tackle global challenges such as climate change. So why are we not focusing on improving the environment for them to learn?” Simon asks.
M.P. Simon urges the government to focus on creating energy and sustainability solutions for the future. “We must get serious about addressing the real impacts of climate change to improve the quality of life for all Antiguans and Barbudans, and move away from the cheap politics,” Simon said.
Kelvin Simon MP
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ok…! which one of your holes you crawl out from today? 🥱 we knew this already, it’s common place for the ABLP to give us gimmicks.
He’s supposed to know that it cannot be done like this.
I think he’s just being ridiculous and very political.
Everything ABLP does,it is about votes to stay in power for their enrichment scheme. I can bet my last breath, some of those AC units will be given to some minions and others to endure their votes in the next general election . It is just lip service . Most of the ABLP politician children goes to private schools or overseas in college . Just like they want us to believe our health care system is so good,but they do not seek medical treatment home. If their medical is urgent ,Air ambulance will be use . If not ,the first available flight out .People ,wake up ! “Vote them out a power “.
Paul on the Disturber in being critical of the initiative is pitching it against the line that the AC should be solar powered. For every nonsensical criticism he pitches he looses more pigments. Pity his nose can’t grow long also.
Realistically, a lot of the schools would need alterations to accommodate AC. Also, most if not all public schools lack a generator as well, and as we know maintenance is always lacking in the public sector so when current is off or they start having faults it’s a whole other set of problems.
At the basic level, adequate ceiling fans should be installed in all schools (not the near-disposable generic standing fans) then at some point in the future, standby generators. Then AC units could be considered if feasible.
I can understand, the need and necessity for [cooler] air for #HUEmans, who created this ‘climate change or global warming;’ take your pick, as to which side of the fence you sit on, that is causing all of the unstable weather patterns around the world.
Again yes, cooler air is now a necessity, but additionally, there MUST be better building(s) designed, built and maintained to be reduce the heat which is accumulated in an enclosed environment(building).
Public complexes, of which schools are a part of, MUST have such things as atriums, court yards, misting areas, green spaces(utilized on the roofs and surrounded landscaping, along with the orientation of these complexes, and the materials used to construct them…#Hempcrete is trendy!
It’s not just placing air conditioning units in a building which will keep a #Living, #Breathing Spaces cool…Kewl! Irie!
Jumbee_Picknee aka Ras Smood
De’ole Dutty Peg🦶🏿Garrat_Bastard
Vere C. Edwards
I can understand, the need and necessity for [cooler] air for #HUEmans, who created this ‘climate change or global warming;’ take your pick, as to which side of the fence you sit on, that is causing all of the unstable weather patterns around the world.
Again yes, cooler air is now a necessity, but additionally, there MUST be better building(s) designed, built and maintained to be reduce the heat which is accumulated in an enclosed environment(building).
Public complexes, of which schools are a part of, MUST have such things as atriums, court yards, misting areas, green spaces(utilized on the roofs and surrounded landscaping, along with the orientation of these complexes, and the materials used to construct them…#Hempcrete is trendy!
It’s not just placing air conditioning units in a building which will keep a #Living, #Breathing Spaces cool…Kewl! Irie!
Jumbee_Picknee aka Ras Smood
De’ole Dutty Peg🦶🏿Garrat_Bastard
Vere C. Edwards
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