- cops question teacher

Police yesterday questioned a female teacher for several hours to ascertain who set a fire in the Eccles Nursery School after soaking several documents in the principal’s office with kerosene.
An official said that the school’s financial records and receipts, and teachers and pupils attendance registers were among the documents that were destroyed.
The vandals, who gained entry by prising open a window, also spray-painted the walls of some classrooms.
Kaieteur News understands that ranks from the Providence Police Station questioned the teacher after receiving information that the principal had recently taken disciplinary action against her.
Fire officials who viewed the damage at the school located at Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara, said that the entire building could have gone up in flames.
There are no security guards at the premises.
A source at the school said that the damage was discovered at around 07:30 hrs when the principal arrived.
According to reports, the principal first noticed that a tap in the schoolyard was left running. When she went to turn it off, she observed that one of the windows was open.
The source said that on entering the building, the official smelled smoke and on entering her office, discovered the charred documents, which were stored in a filing cabinet.
The vandals had soaked the documents with kerosene while they were still in the filing cabinet and then set them alight.
Kaieteur News was told that the nursery school had suffered loses in February and March, when thieves made off with over $100,000 in books, stationary and other items.
A source said that the prime suspect in those burglaries is at present in jail.
An official said that the principal had requested that guards be deployed at the school after the burglaries had occurred.