Bahrain assures renovation of ‘rodent-infested’ school

Manama :  With the Education Ministry pledging to implement urgent maintenance works at Sanabis Primary Girls’ School, which was infested with rodents, students can heave a sigh of relief now.

Giving new hopes for the students of the 50-year-old school, the Ministry’s Services Director Khalid Ghareeb confirmed that maintenance works would be urgently implemented at different sides of the school.

During his visit to the school recently, Ghareeb assured that “the construction status of the school isn’t a threat”, stating that the Ministry is keen on providing safe environments at all schools to ensure sustainability of the academic processes. 

“What is being raised about the matter is driven by a lot of exaggeration. The concerned departments at the Ministry are studying all future options and available alternatives for this school,” Ghareeb said.

He mentioned in his statements that Sanabis Primary Girls’ School is rated “excellent” by the National Authority of Qualifications and Quality Assurance of Education and Training (QQA).

Primary Education Director Fatima Al Buainain and Educational Planning Head Fatima Ali also accompanied Ghareeb. 

DT News reported last year that parents and students of Sanabis Primary Girls’ School organised protests at the gates of the school, demanding that the Ministry solve its sanitary issues, claiming that it has become “a hotbed for rodents and insects.” Some of the students even refused to attend classes back then (March, 2015), alleging that rats are seen frequently running across the school’s corridors and classrooms.

The matter was adopted by the area’s MP Adel Hameed, who demanded constructing a new elementary girls’ school in the area, as the existing school can’t accommodate the increasing numbers of students. “The school is overpopulated. It is incapable of accommodating the children of 11, 000 families living in the area,” Hameed told DT News then.

Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa also directed the concerned authorities to immediately solve the matter.