Finance Minister Colm Imbert has pledged that schools in need of urgent repairs will get the required funding, noting the country was in a slightly better financial position to do so.

The Minister was speaking at the opening of the Belle Vue Early Childhood Care and Education Centre in St James on Wednesday. 

“We have problems in our schools, our schools are old. A lot of the schools in Trinidad and Tobago are 50, 60 years, some of them 100 years old. A building is not supposed to last for 100 years. I wish to give the assurance that whatever is required in all of these schools, where you have issues because of the age of the school, problems with roofs, problems with the electrical and plumbing systems, and so on, you will get the full support of the ministry of finance,” Imbert said.

The Education Ministry received the largest budgetary allocation for fiscal 2023 at $7.45billion.

Speaking at Wednesday’s opening, Education Minister Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said it was a daily uphill task just to ensure schools do not close.

“A school closing is a critical thing because if a school is closed, we can’t do our jobs. School maintenance, not just construction, but maintaining the plant is also very important, and Minister Imbert understands that, which is why he would say let us get the money to where we need it, and we certainly need it to maintain our cadre of schools so that our children do not miss school days,” she said.