There will be no school for hundreds of secondary school students across the country tomorrow and Tuesday.
They have been asked by the Ministry of Education not to report for classes for the first two days of the new term because their schools will be used as examination centres for private candidates writing Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams.
The ministry said 12 schools will remain closed. They are Arima North Secondary, Bon Air Secondary, Diego Martin Central Secondary, La Romaine Secondary, Malabar Secondary, Marabella North Secondary, Marabella South Secondary, San Juan North Secondary, Siparia West Secondary, South East Port-of-Spain Secondary, St Augustine Secondary, and Woodbrook Secondary.
Forms One and Two students of Barataria South Secondary, Barataria North Secondary and Point Fortin Secondary have been told to stay at home and there will be no school for Forms One, Two and Three students of Mt Hope Secondary and Rio Claro East Secondary.
At Northeastern College, there will be no classes for students in Forms One, Two, Three and Six and the same applies for students in Forms One, Two, Three and Four at El Dorado East Secondary and Waterloo Secondary, as well as Form One students of Chaguanas South Secondary who are asked to stay at home.
At Princes Town West Secondary, there will be no classes for Forms One and Six and at Chaguanas North Secondary, there will no classes for Form Two students.
Students in Forms Four and Five attending El Dorado West Secondary and Forms Five and Six students of Tranquility Secondary are advised not to report for classes.
There will be no classes for Form Five students of Diego Martin North Secondary and West Secondary.
Several attempts to contact president of the T&T Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) Davanand Sinanan for comment on the situation were futile.
However, president of the National Parent/Teacher Association (NPTA) Zena Ramatali said while she understood the closure was to facilitate examinations for private candidates, the NPTA will monitor the situation.
“Our first concern is always that no child is hindered from receiving an education,” she told the Sunday Guardian.
“If it’s to facilitate exams, I really don’t have a problem with that because it has been a norm where students will stay at home for a couple days. It’s not a permanent fixture but we do hope that schools will be all ready to start this new term which is a very important term.”