Port KaitumaCommunity School is a learning centre in Port Kaituma within the Barima-Waini administrative region of Guyana. Incorporating the Nursery, Primary and Secondary departments, the Community School provides an important educational resource to its students, providing the opportunity to break free from 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 to make the country more self-sufficient. Nearby Matthew's Ridge was touted as a prospective new capital city due to its rich manganese resources. During its heyday, the school boasted over 800 students from all over Guyana. Most of these students were housed in the nearby dormitories. The school 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; the area experienced an economic downturn. The school numbers fell and the dorms were abandoned towards the end of the 1980s. Most of the beds were transferred to Kaituma's 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 that the matter was taken up with the World Bank. Only the secondary department was accepted for the project and following extensive refurbishment the school was re-opened amidst governmental celebration in time for the 2003/04 academic year. 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 volunteers were needed to have enough seats for the students. Water butts collecting rain for much of the year so the taps work. No gas canister means the gas taps in Science don't work and there no nothing to heat the ovens in H.E. There is a lack of teachers. Many of the 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. Since 2005 worldteach volunteers from America have been teaching at the primary and secondary schools. Peacecorps 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 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?".
