Ministry forges ahead with book grant ‘card’, school repair

As a follow up, officials at the Ministry of Education stated yesterday the Central Tenders Board was responsible for deciding which banking institution would prepare the electronic cards to replace the $1,000 book grant cheque being issued to parents of students in secondary schools.

However, no decision has yet been arrived at as to which bank would actually produce the card. The card is very similar to an ATM electronic card and can be used for point-of-sale purchases at bookstores. This measure is the Ministry’s attempt to avoid parents/guardians spending the money on other things, but the books it was intended for. Following an article in one of the dailies, it appeared that only Republic Bank had been consulted concerning the proposed card. Other banks revealed that they had not been consulted by the Ministry. Regarding the textbook rental/loan programme which will be implemented in all public and private schools for Form I and II in September, the official said a number of books had been approved by the Ministry in Mathematics, Language Arts, Spanish and Science. Explaining that all school principals had been requested to identify which books they would like to use and the number of students who would need textbooks, the source said only then would orders be forwarded to the printers.

Questioned as to whether or not parents had already purchased books in these areas, and if they would be able to return the books to the relevant bookstores, the official said school principals had been asked to notify the parents beforehand not to purchase books in these areas. A further testimonial to Government’s commitment to improving the educational sector in TT is the Vacation School Repair and Refurbishment Programme which is estimated to cost over $37 million this year. The project, which would be managed by the National Insurance Property Development Company, will initiate repairs this vacation period at 52 Government primary schools, 61 denominational primary schools, 5 assisted secondary schools and 11 Government secondary schools. During the July-August period, the National Maintenance and Training and Security Company will also take the opportunity to install and repair perimetre fences at 15 Government secondary schools.

Construction of security fencing and the installation of lighting will commence at 17 Government primary schools and over 113 denominational schools. This work will start next week. Rehabilitation, technical upgrade and the construction of additional blocks with appropriate security fencing and lighting is targetted to begin at schools including Manzanilla, Debe, Tableland, Cunupia, Coryal, Brazil, Mathura, Blanchisseuse and the Valencia High Schools. Construction works are continuing at the following schools to facilitate the new term’s intake at the Sangre Grande Swaha Hindu, Miracle Ministries Pentecostal, Caroni SDMS, Barrackpore ASJA Girls’, Charlieville ASJA Boys’, Tunapuna ASJA, Saraswati Hindu College and the Holy Name Convent, Point Fortin. The Ministry last year successfully upgraded 161 schools at a cost of over $49 million. Over 135 contracting firms were engaged to work on the project.