Officials from the Ministry of Education (MoE), led by Minister Nicolette Henry, visited the Mae’s Schools yesterday to offer support to students following the suicide of teenaged student Vanica Schultz on Thursday.
The team included officials from the MoE’s Schools Health and Welfare Department and the Psychosocial Unit. According to the ministry, the objective of the visit was to listen to the school’s administration and children, and to provide support in the wake of Schultz’s death.
Schultz, 15, died at the Woodlands Hospital on Thursday afternoon, where she was rushed after falling ill at the private school. It was later discovered that the teen, who distributed suicide notes to her classmates and teachers, had ingested a poisonous substance.
Addressing students who had gathered in the school’s auditorium, Henry said, “I understand the pressure that you will be under from what you have seen so far that exists in the public domain and so this morning, the MoE is here with the psychosocial team so that they can provide students and teachers that are personally affected with the type of support services [needed].”
Similar sentiments were shared by Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson. “I just want you to know that the situation, many of you are affected, we need to ensure that yes, we are grieving but we do not want a repetition of this action among you because you are very talented and this country is dependent upon you and the skills that you have. You are very young and, therefore, we want to urge [you] not to go in that particular direction.”
“I want you to know personally that you are all gifted and have something to bring to the table that will help to develop this country. Notwithstanding the fact that you have suffered a loss, please understand that life is filled with issues and that we have to learn to navigate and to grapple with those issues. As such, as part of that intervention, you will hear from those persons who are well equipped to counsel, to teach and train in matters like these,” he added.
Meanwhile, Henry, in an interview with reporters after meeting the students, expressed her interest in seeing stronger collaboration between the public and private school systems in light of such an incident.
“At the level of the MoE, we have undertaken several initiatives under the broad umbrella of the school health programme. Therefore, I would want to see stronger collaboration with the public education system and the private education system here in the country. As you know, my ministerial responsibility is in some ways confined to the public education system but I am certainly concerned about every child in this country in or out of school. Therefore, it is because of that concern that I will be interacting with Mae’s and with the family, and the parents in particular, of the child who lost her life under these unfortunate circumstances,” Henry said.
The minister also took the opportunity to extend her condolences to the family and friends of Shultz.
“It is very unfortunate that we would have lost that student under those circumstances. Therefore, [I] would like to express my sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the student who lost her life. Having said that, we would have recognised that based on all that we have heard so far, there are a lot of social issues that ought to be addressed. I believe it is a national, a holistic perspective and what we saw there was a symptom of a larger problem,” she added. (Mariah Lall)
