Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly says over $100 million has been allocated for school repairs.
Classes resume online today, which requires little activity within school compounds but some in-school classes will resume in October.
Responding to Guardian Media’s questions on the level of preparedness by schools to reopen physically next month, Gadsby-Dolly said, “Over $100 million have been contracted, through MTS (the National Maintenance Training and Security Company), for repair work to schools in this fiscal.
“School repairs have been constantly ongoing—there has been no stoppage except for when construction was halted. We have over 600 schools; many over 50 years old, so there are always multiple projects ongoing.
“Larger projects are typically done during vacation periods, but they have been engaged throughout the year as schools have not been physically open.
“Of course, the funding available would circumscribe how much work can be undertaken, so efforts are made to prioritise repairs for electrical, sewer and plumbing systems, for example.”
Schools reopen today and there is a perennial problem of some schools not being ready for different reasons, mainly incomplete repairs, even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of them are infrastructure or an estate audit/sanitisation over a five-month period.
With schools closed for more than 18 months, the minister was asked if a facility audit of existing structures done.
Electrical checks, plumbing, animal, rodent and pest infestations such as bat and pigeon droppings, rat urine, roach sanitisation, cupboards and desks cleaning also need to be done.
Denise Downes and her daughter Serina Trotman get the remaining books on her booklist at RIK Services Ltd, High Street, San Fernando, on the eve of the reopening of school.
KRISTIAN DE SILVA
She said some school buildings had been condemned and required full reconstruction and this was ongoing.
Gadsby-Dolly stated that some schools had been decanted for this purpose and these arrangements will continue until construction was completed.
She replied that although schools had not been open for students, principals were managers of the schools and were expected to make reports of an infrastructural nature on the ministry’s online system. This was where the items being addressed presently would have been submitted.
Gadsby-Dolly responded that the information came directly to the ministry from principals.
She explained that the challenge of general maintenance was funding to be able to do all that was requested at the same time.
Gadsby-Dolly stressed that due to the age of the plants, there were multiple issues that competed for limited resources.
When asked if the ministry would have the necessary data to get whatever equipment such as laptops and projectors the children and teachers might need for classes, she replied that the last batch of means test applicants were being supplied with laptops this week. These would be the 20,000 devices procured by the Government.
Gadsby-Dolly added that the ministry was awaiting the delivery of the first batch of MiFi devices for distribution as well.
Regarding how will the ministry know how many students were vaccinated and whether a survey or questionnaire was sent out to parents via the ministry, she said the survey had already been sent out to parents of students in Forms 4-6 and this information had not been requested pertaining to the latter part of the question.