Port Kaituma Community School

Port Kaituma Community School (PKCS) is a learning centre located in Port Kaituma within the Barima-Waini administrative region of Guyana, located at 7°44′N 59°53′W.

Overview

Incorporating the Nursery, Primary and Secondary departments, the Community School provides an important educational resource to the towns youngsters providing the opportunity to break free from the otherwise inevitable employment in gold mining and its support services.

History

Built in the times of Forbes Burnham, the then President of Guyana, PKCS was part of a major vision to populate Guyana's hinterland regions in a bid to make the country more self sufficient. Nearby Matthew's Ridge was even touted as a prospective new capital city due to its rich manganese resources. During its heyday, the school boasted over 800 students sent from all over Guyana. Most of these students were housed in the nearby school dormitories. The school also had its own farm, ball field and agricultural patch. The decline of the region following the deceased manganese operations and the abandonment of the hinterland population project meant Port Kaituma was no longer a priority and the area experienced an economic downturn. The school numbers fell and the dorms were abandoned towards the end of the 1980's. Most of the beds were transferred to Kaituma's now more affluent neighbour Mabaruma and its North West Secondary School. The farm has since been invaded by the encroaching rainforest.

Such was the deterioration of the school (in 2002 a secondary pupil fell through the floorboards) that the matter was taken up with the World Bank. Unfortunately only the secondary department was accepted for the project and following extensive refurbishment the school was re-opened amidst typical governmental style celebration in time for the 2003/04 academic year.

Today

Whilst the refurbishing made a fantastic improvement to the aesthetics of the building and improved many of the facilities, such as the Home Economics department and Science laboratory, fundamental teaching resources remain absent. Fundraising by the PTA and donations from former volunteers were needed to have enough seats for all the students. Water butts collecting rain water mean for much of the year the taps work but no gas canister means the gas taps in Science don't work and there no nothing to heat the ovens in H.E. Perhaps most importantly there is a lack of teachers. Many of the already underqualified Primary teachers are required to step in and in 2002 Project Trust started sending two volunteer teachers per year to PKCS to bolster the teaching team, and since 2005 worldteach volunteers from America have been teaching at the Primary and Secondary schools. Peacecorps has also started this year to send volunteers but they are not officially attached to the school. In November 2007, Sir Adams was replaced as HM by Miss Brittlebank. In addition to the school complex the Teachers Quarters was built to house teaching staff from the school, located a short walk from the school and just off the main road from Kaituma to the Backdam. Dr. Kenneth Hunte, Guyanese Director of Education, in an address to the PKCS teaching staff following the grand re-opening was quoted as asking "Do they still have trees growing in the gutter?", such is the state of disrepair that these houses have also now fallen into.

School Motto

Leadership, Tolerance, Integrity and Respect.