RAMPANT chaos is expected at several schools from the lack of repairs and maintenance as the new academic year begins.Education Minister Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly is blaming a shortage of money for the looming crisis, as she has decided to “take in front,” as the Express newspaper termed it.The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) and National Parent-Teacher Association have confirmed that only limited repairs and upkeep were conducted during the mid-year holiday vacation.The result is that dilapidated facilities, water and sewerage problems, and other crises await when classes resume on Monday September 2.TTUTA has stressed that the lives and welfare of students and teachers could be at risk at certain schools that are falling apart because of the absence of maintenance in recent years.At the premises of some schools, there are overgrown bushes, stray animals and rodents, to add to the woes of disrepair and neglect.A survey has found that the crisis exists at both primary and secondary schools and in all education divisions on both islands.Some schools require desks and chairs, repairs to the structure, mending of water lines, and upkeep of the precincts and associated works.The required works on some facilities have been deemed “critical” and yet the Education Ministry did not prioritise the repairs during the two-month vacation.TTUTA officials have stressed that they will not permit the education authorities to hassle them into sanctioning the opening of badly dilapidated schools.The association is likely to invoke occupational health and safety provisions and advise teachers to stay away from classes until satisfactory work is done.When a similar problem took place last year, several schools remained closed and repairs were conducted on evenings and weekends.“The management of mid-year maintenance was not done efficiently,” a knowledgeable education source said.“There would always be insufficient funds, but the most critical facilities were not prioritised and repair contracts were not issued in a timely manner.“The issue repaired careful coordination and effective management.”The crisis is likely to lead to delayed opening of some schools, and protests by frustrated parents, a scenario that has taken place at the start of most recent academic years.Gadsby-Dolly said that conducting all the required works could cost some $2 billion.An education source stated: “The country will understand if all the necessary improvements are not conducted, but they will not excuse the completion of urgent and serious repairs.”As the country heads toward the end of the fiscal year, most government ministries are crippled by a lack of funds for recurrent works.The annual school refurbishment programme has been badly affected every year since the Government closed the State Enterprise Education Facilities Company Ltd., (EFCL) two years ago.Scores of workers were sent home.EFCL was set up in 2005 to remove red tape and fast-track the construction and renovation of education facilities.There are 610 primary and secondary schools, of which 27 are considered to be in dire need of critical repairs.