NO WORD ON SCHOOL REPAIRS

Officials at the ministry’s Corporate Communications unit told Newsday the unit was in the process of compiling information on the schools’ repairs programme which, they said, “should be released by the end of this week hopefully.”

Officials were unable to give details on any of the schools currently undergoing repairs or those that have completed repairs. They additionally preferred not to comment on whether some schools will remain closed, because of unfinished work, after the new academic year begins.

The repair programme that is set to be released, officials said, should take the form of a comprehensive statement and should include information on the number of schools under repairs, the total cost of the entire programme and the number of schools repaired within the last five years.

Mervyn Crichlow, Communication Specialist at the ministry said retrieval of information from contractors on job sites and other sources was difficult since most of them were “busy at work”and unable to meet with ministry officials. Clyde Permell, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) told Newsday he had not received any information on the ministry’s repair programme but was soon to visit some of the schools currently undergoing repairs.

President of the St George East Primary Schools Principals Association, Trevor Oliver said the association believed that the Ministry of Education should have repairs done on a timely basis.

He said one of the major problems with the annual vacation repair programme was the late release of funds by the ministry to start repairs.