Fury as pupils are taught in ‘dirty shack’
PUPILS affected by school closures in Edinburgh are being taught in conditions ‘worse than a prison’, furious parents said yesterday.
Around 90 P6 and P7 youngsters at Oxgangs Primary are attending classes in an outbuilding which parents branded ‘a concentration camp’.
City of Edinburgh Council said the dilapidated hut at Wester Hailes Education Centre was a ‘temporary arrangement’.
But concerns among parents have grown after their children told them the building was ‘dirty’ and ‘horrible’.
Some told of being able to put their hands through holes in rotting walls. The row follows the closure of 17 schools in the capital built under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme – sparked when storm damage at Oxgangs Primary’s new building led to serious defects being found at other new schools.
Inspections discovered that special ties which hold brick walls together were missing or corroded.
More than 8,000 children in Edinburgh have been affected by the closures and had to be shipped to alternative accommodation.
As parents gathered at the education centre yesterday, one said: ‘It’s been kept very quiet from us and I think that’s the reason why we are all here, because we all feel a sense of guilt that we didn’t know our children were being educated in a place like this.’
Another added: ‘The children can put their hands through rotten bits of the building and pull bits of the building off and that’s what they are doing in their playtime.’
On the Oxgangs Primary Parents’ Information Service page on Facebook, images of the wooden hut were shared.
The page’s moderator said: ‘For those of us with kids in P6 & P7 this is [what] the council thinks is an acceptable temporary arrangement.
‘I can honestly say that I am speechless and incandescent with rage. How dare the council do this to our children.’
Another parent, Shona Clemson, added: ‘My son described it and he has said he misses his own school. I can see why now. I never thought it would be as bad as that. How can this be deemed acceptable for kids to be taught in?’
Colin Campbell said: ‘People in Saughton Prison are put in better conditions. Disgusting.’
Stephanie Lawson added that it ‘looked like a concentration camp’ while Fiona Tait said: ‘I’ve just returned from this vile disgrace. It’s really as bad/worse than pics... no way children should be in this shack.’
A spokesman for City of Edinburgh Council said: ‘The council has no choice but to put alternative arrangements in place.
‘This is a temporary solution for these pupils and officers are monitoring all arrangements continuously and will make adjustments if necessary. We appreciate that this is a difficult time for parents across the city and we will take any complaints they have about the accommodation very seriously.
‘The council is pressing Edinburgh Schools Partnership to provide a clearer picture for all schools by the end of next week in order that we can resolve this situation as quickly as possible.
‘The safety of children remains our paramount concern and ensuring that we have educational arrangements in place within a school environment has been our priority.’
Two years ago, Keane WallisBennett, 12, died when a wall in the changing rooms of Edinburgh’s Liberton High School collapsed on top of her.