Author: Erle Wright
History of the School
Mrs. Gilma Phillip-Perez - Principal 1
.Arima West Government Primary School nestles at the foothills of the Northern Range. It is bordered by the Arima North Secondary School on the west, the Mausica River on the north, Boodoo's on the east and the Arima Old Road and Carib Homes on the south. The catchment area of the school includes the communities of Carib Homes, Mausica Village, Cleaver, Sherewood Park, Samaroo Village and Jonestown. With the exception of Carib Homes and Cleaver, all the other areas are generally low socio-economic communities, affected by varying levels of juvenile delinquency and crime. Many pupils also come from socially and economically depressed areas in Pinto and Maturita.
The school is twenty eight (28) years old and came into existence through the agitation of parents in Arima and environs, for the expansion of the number of school places in the area, during the early nineteen eighties. The burgeoning National Housing construction projects, in the suburban regions of Arima, created a severe shortage of school places in the borough, as population shifted from western regions of the island to the East. Many parents were unable to secure places in the existing schools for children between the ages of six and eleven years. Consequently, several temporary wooden structures were hastily erected in the Arima area, to appease the growing tide of dissatisfaction with government’s seeming ineptitude, in catering for the social and infrastructural needs of the burgesses of Arima and constituents of the surrounding areas.
On the second of November 1981, the school officially opened its doors. Its population consisted of a principal seven teachers and 150 students. They were housed in two temporary wooden structures, situated on a parcel of land which was once an old farm. Two more wooden structures were added a few years later as the population of the school expanded to more than six hundred students.
The school is twenty eight (28) years old and came into existence through the agitation of parents in Arima and environs, for the expansion of the number of school places in the area, during the early nineteen eighties. The burgeoning National Housing construction projects, in the suburban regions of Arima, created a severe shortage of school places in the borough, as population shifted from western regions of the island to the East. Many parents were unable to secure places in the existing schools for children between the ages of six and eleven years. Consequently, several temporary wooden structures were hastily erected in the Arima area, to appease the growing tide of dissatisfaction with government’s seeming ineptitude, in catering for the social and infrastructural needs of the burgesses of Arima and constituents of the surrounding areas.
On the second of November 1981, the school officially opened its doors. Its population consisted of a principal seven teachers and 150 students. They were housed in two temporary wooden structures, situated on a parcel of land which was once an old farm. Two more wooden structures were added a few years later as the population of the school expanded to more than six hundred students.
