Dr Francis: Most schools to open today

“There is always the unexpected but we are not overly worried,” Francis said when contacted on Saturday by Newsday.

“We had a lot of sewer problems all over the place, some of them that were not carded for repairs but things happen and then you have to have contingency plans.

Treading lightly, he continued: “ I don’t want to go out and say that all schools will be opened, but we will be okay on Monday. We have concerns, but we are fairly confident that we will be looking good on the first day of school.” Francis went on to extend his best wishes for the new year to staff and students “as we continue partnering together to make our education system the beacon of development that it really should be.” Throughout the just concluded year , a number of parents and students from schools across the country, protested for one reason or the other against the Ministry of Education on matters related to the infrastructure of their respective schools.