Garcia to name schools for repair

Education Minister Anthony Garcia will reveal the names of the schools that are still to be repaired before terms starts next week. A source at the ministry said the minister, along with the ministry’s permanent secretary and chairman of the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL), Ricardo Vasquez, visited several schools on Thursday.

The source said about three schools have been identified that were in need of repairs. “The minister will talk about that
tomorrow (Friday) during a press conference. We are not saying that the schools will not be reopened, but there will have to be some repairs done.”

When Newsday contacted the EFCL yesterday, acting CEO David Mark declined to take the call. An unidentified woman who answered said she could not say anything about any repairs to be done by the company, and to contact the ministry. Garcia was said to be in a meeting when Newsday tried to reach him.

Head of the TT Unified Teachers’ Association Antonia DeFreitas said while the union has not had any feedback from the ministry, it was getting information from other sources. “There is concern that a couple of schools may not open on Monday.

“Among them is Couva West Secondary. And we still have to receive confirmation on Edinburgh 500...South East Port of Spain will be opening on Monday, please God. “We have reached out to our people in the other education districts and we have asked them to provide us with an update by tomorrow.”

In 2005, EFCL was mandated to provide project management services for the school construction programme and district education offices of the ministry.

In March 2008, the School Repairs and Maintenance Programme was added to EFCL’s portfolio.