T&T Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) president Martin Lum Kin has labelled the closure of primary schools and private examination centres a full day before the SEA exam as “highly irregular”.
Yesterday, a letter released by the Ministry of Education for the attention of the country’s principals of both government and denominational primary schools gave a list of specific arrangements in preparation for the exam. One of these arrangements included the closure of all primary schools and private examination centres tomorrow (Wednesday) to allow for “safety and quality checks” to be undertaken by security personnel. It also noted that principals, vice principals and senior teachers were required to be present to give access to the school buildings and examination rooms to these personnel.
Some primary schools will also be closed from midday today to facilitate the “checks”.
The ministry did not explain the reason behind the move and the TTUTA president said he found this curious.
“It is highly irregular. In the past, schools would be closed for half-day to allow for preparation for the examination, preparation of the room, and so forth...[TTUTA] has not been given any information from the Ministry of Education. We are speculating the reasons why, [but] we cannot confirm whether it’s a security reason,” Lum Kin said.
He described the time in which the new arrangements were provided as “last minute”, which he said was inconveniencing principals.
Lum Kin said, “It was quite inconvenient and shows a level of disorganisation on the part of the Ministry of Education to come last minute and inform the principals of the new requirements.”
Guardian Media reached out to the Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly for a comment on whether security concerns may have been behind the decision but no response was received.
On March 5, 49 primary schools located in south east Trinidad were the targets of emailed bomb threats, affecting thousands. The email warned people to stay away from schools on March 5 and 6 noting that “at midday, a device will be set off”.