Ameen: Trucks, dinghies out to take students to exams

Rural Development and Local Government Minister Khadijah Ameen says she requested TT Regiment trucks to assist in getting secondary school students who are writing CAPE and CSEC exams to their schools on the morning of June 12.

In a release, Ameen said emergency transport has been deployed to the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation, the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation and the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation.

In Penal/Debe, that transport includes dinghies.

“I spoke to the Minister of Education because we have exams going on for Form 5 and Form 6 students, we don’t want any student who is writing CSEC and CXC exams to be disrupted at all, so we have put systems in place from our disaster management units, we have three dinghies and trucks in the Penal/Debe region to ensure that all students get to school even if the water levels are high,” Ameen said.

“We also have three in the Sangre Grande region and two in the Tunapuna Piarco region, any area where there are secondary schools with students writing exams that may be impacted by flooding, we would like you to communicate with us so we can put systems in place so whether it is by boat or by truck, we will ensure that every student has the opportunity to write their exams.”

Ameen said as of the morning of June 12, she had spoken to Education Minister Dr Michael Dowlath and no secondary schools were being earmarked for use as emergency shelters.

In a release on the night of June 11, the Education Ministry said it was monitoring the bad weather.

Ameen said primary schools and community centres were being prepared for use as emergency shelters.

This is a developing story and it will be updated when more information becomes available.