Parents of students attending a Berbice secondary school are calling for the Ministry of Education to investigate the school, after their children claimed that a drug-using teacher had given them “a pull.”
The parents who asked to remain anonymous contacted Stabroek News and stated that they had been noticing changes in their children’s behaviour. The parents alleged that one teacher in the school is a known drug user. They claimed that the teacher smokes in front of the students and encourages them saying, “nothing wrong with taking a pull.”
One parent said, “We were hearing rumours but we never thought that a teacher would be doing that. But one day my daughter come home and tell me that them had lunch and the teacher was okay then he come back and his eyes were red and he started acting different.”
Another parent who has a child in fourth form said, “Me son start acting different in the afternoon when he come from school, fighting up and so.”
One parent said she was told that the teacher in question gave the drugs to students on different occasions, telling them to “take a pull”.
A parent said a complaint was made to the school’s head teacher last week. However, the parents are worried that their children are not safe in such an environment and are calling on the Ministry of Education to intervene immediately.
While Stabroek News was unable to determine what action the head teacher took in relation to the complaints a source from the Ministry of Education explained that in such an instance it is mandatory that an investigation be launched.
“The head teacher would be required to interview the teacher as well as the students who have made this report and compile a report for submission to the relevant department of education,” the source said.
Asked if the head teacher would have been required to inform the Guyana Police Force, the source explained that unless the teacher was observed committing a crime or any other direct evidence of the crime had been presented to the head teacher, the latter would not have been required to call the police.
“The parents, however, could have and still can make a report to the police,” the source said.
