Eight students found to be responsible for a prank that resulted in a Linden teacher suffering a skull fracture have been expelled, while the teacher’s spouse says he intends to take further action as soon as his wife has recovered.
Chief Education Officer (CEO) Olato Sam has said that an investigation found eight students of the Wisburg Secondary School in Linden culpable for setting the trap which fractured the skull of Michelle Richards, 25, and the students have been expelled with immediate effect.
Considering the scope of the incident, Sam was asked if the Education Ministry would be taking further action against the students but he noted that expulsion is as far as the system was going to go.
When asked if he was satisfied with the actions taken, Rawle Johnson, Richards’s husband, said that while he respects the decision, he intends to take the matter further once his wife’s health improves.
On February 4th, Richards was rushed to the Mackenzie Hospital after a table top landed on her head as she entered a classroom. As a result, the woman sustained injuries to her head, shoulder and right arm, and began experiencing severe headaches. A subsequent CT scan would reveal that the teacher had suffered a fractured skull due to the impact.
Johnson had said that he was initially told by the school that three students were responsible for the prank. Sam, however, said that the ministry’s investigation into the matter had determined that eight students had set the trap.
Teachers of the Wisburg Secondary School became frustrated after a prolonged period of time had elapsed without intervention by the Region Ten administration and, more specifically, the Regional Educational Officer.
As a result, the teachers, joined by other teachers from schools across Linden, took to the streets to protest the less than favourable conditions facing them in schools, including the abuse at the hands of those they were responsible for educating.
At the end of the protest, Sam addressed the angry teachers
and promised that the
Education Ministry would take all necessary measures to address their concerns. He also promised that the prank would be investigated and those responsible would be held accountable.
Some weeks after the incident, Education Minister Priya Manickchand declared that the government was fully behind the teachers on the issue and would work towards ensuring that teachers got the respect they deserved. She also promised that students guilty of attacking teachers would be punished. “We will have to review our own position and take strong action,” Manickchand said.
Apart from possible suspension and expulsion, Manickchand said that the possibility of calling in the police and having children who orchestrate such acts sentenced to the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) would be examined.
Meanwhile, Johnson on Tuesday said that at this point his primary concern is caring for his wife, who still has not recovered fully. He said that though she no longer experiences severe headaches and fevers, she is still somewhat in shock and disoriented. The man said, however, that once his wife is well enough, he intends to pursue the matter further, and revealed that he has met with a lawyer to discuss the way forward.
