Funding for repairs to the 362 schools damaged by Hurricane Beryl will now cost more than $3 billion, Education Minister Fayval Williams announced.
The Department of Education initially gave a preliminary figure of $2.7 billion. However, at a press conference after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Williams announced that this figure had been raised because the number of schools requiring renovations had also increased.
“We have a better assessment now than we did immediately after the hurricane. So we have to present the case to the Ministry of Finance and the Civil Service and, for our part, use the resources already allocated to us efficiently, because we know that the hurricane represents an additional burden on the state budget,” she said.
The ministry has divided the affected schools into three priority groups: severely damaged, moderately damaged and those with minor damage.
Williams noted that 107 schools were classified as severely damaged; roofs, ceilings, windows and doors, retaining walls and fences, furniture, teaching materials and electrical equipment were destroyed.
A total of 139 schools were classified as moderately damaged, while 116 schools were described as having minor damage.
Williams reiterated that repairs at these schools can be carried out while school is in session.
She also said she does not expect major delays in the reopening of schools on September 2 as work is still underway and contractors are working overtime to ensure completion.
“We meet more than once a week and go through each school in detail so we know where each school stands. We know which schools are very confident they will open, which schools are saying to give us a day or two and so on,” she said.
She said principals and board chairpersons had permission to review the situation and decide when and how students could be brought back to school.
-Sashana Klein
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