Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said “99% of the 830 public ECCE, Primary and Secondary Schools across Trinidad and Tobago,” were ready for their student population.
In a statement last evening, after her ministry made an assessment of the opening day’s activity, Dr Gadsby-Dolly said only 0.4 per cent of schools with repair works being conducted on them did not open, while 0.6% of schools opened on rotation due to extensive repair works being completed.
She said in all cases except one, repair works are carded to be completed during the course of this week.
According to the minister, the first day of the new school year also saw a 97 per cent teacher and 83 per cent student turn-out at primary schools, and a 94 per cent teacher and 82 per cent student turnout at secondary schools.
Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) president Martin Lum Kin said two schools in South Trinidad had to be dismissed early due to a lack of water as a result of the difficulties being experienced by the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA).
Lum Kin added that the Melville Memorial Girls’ AC Primary School, which shares a compound with the St Margaret’s Boys’ AC Primary School in Belmont, was also dismissed early because they also had no water.