GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – The Guyana government says it will “support fully” students affected by a fire on Wednesday at the privately-owned Mae’s School in Subryanville, a neighbourhood in Demerara-Mahaica.

“As you know, we treat our private schools and our private school children the same way we do public schools with every intent and purpose,” said the country’s Education Minister, Priya Manickchand. She added that the Examinations Division of the Ministry was putting in place systems to accommodate students who would be writing examinations by the Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and the Grade Six Assessment.

“We are just a couple of weeks away from Grade Six, making sure they are comfortable, they are seated, making sure the CXC children are also provided for so, as I speak, our exams division is currently looking at two places to try to make that determination but they’ll get our full support,” said Manickchand.

In a statement, Mae’s School, with approximately 1,000 students across its nursery, primary, and secondary levels, said having experienced the “unfortunate event of a fire which completely destroyed its main structure” it is “currently putting urgent systems in place to ensure that the educational journey of its children continues uninterrupted”.

It noted that the building previously housed the playground, primary and secondary students and that “to date, all students, teachers and staff members have been safely accounted for and this has been verified by the Guyana Fire Service”.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said in a brief statement that “preliminary reports indicate that the blaze began before 8:00 am (local time) and that “a parent at the scene recounted seeing a small fire inside one of the buildings. Despite efforts to extinguish it, the flames quickly spread, engulfing the entire school.”