Inspection of school facilities, in preparation for the start of the new school year after Labor Day, was conducted last week by the Environmental Health Services Division of the Department of Health.
Aileen Solaita, the acting head of the division, says there’s still a lot of work to be done and a list for each school has been provided to the Department of Education. Follow up inspections are to be completed before the end of this month.
This is for public schools only.
Schools in Aunuu and Manua will also be inspected.
Solaita said the same conditions from the last three years exist and are due to lack of maintenance.
Conditions such as classrooms without screen wires, broken toilets and sinks, lack of cleaning supplies for daily clean up of bathroom facilities, and leaking ceilings. Rodent feces were also found in classrooms.
Solaita was also concerned with overcrowding and poor ventilation at Tafuna High School.
Without a maintenance plan, school facilities are not kept in good order and they deteriorate, she said.
She noted that there were several new classroom buildings and some are still under construction.
Solaita said without a maintenance plan for these new buildings, they will quickly become dilapidated.
There were improvements in the kitchen facilities. According to Solaita, they are much better maintained, thanks to Program Manager Christina Fualaau’s leadership of the School Lunch Program.
In an August 2 memo to directors, Acting Governor Talauega Eleasalo Ale set the week of August 21-25 for the Adopt-a-School Clean Up.
He urged directors to designate time for the departments to participate in the clean up and rehabilitation activities at their adopted schools. All authorities, departments, and agencies, will continue with the schools they’ve adopted in the past.
The Acting Governor said the Adopt-a-School Initiative has proven to be a successful program that has resulted in positive changes to our schools.
