The St Agnes Primary School teacher, who was assaulted by the parents of a child at the school’s Church Street, Georgetown premises on Wednesday, has filed a report with the police.
Following the assault, the Ministry of Education said that it was investigating and an official had said the incident is one which warranted the attention of the police, who are also engaged in the matter.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, the female teacher, who asked to not be named, said that two pupils were involved in an incident which led to their parents being called in to the school. She explained that prior to the attack, the child, whose parents were seen on a video assaulting her, was involved in an incident where he kicked another pupil, injuring the pupil and causing bleeding.
The teacher told Stabroek News that following the incident between the pupils, the injured child was taken to the hospital by teachers and his parents, where they stayed until late the same night. She said that after she left the hospital and made her way home, she received a call from the parent that the bleeding did not stop so the child was then taken to a private hospital. At the time, pampers had to be placed on the child.
The following day, the parents of both children were asked to come to the school and meet with the head teacher. The woman said that while the head teacher was not there, the deputy head teacher was briefed and they subsequently went into a meeting, along with other senior teachers and the pupils involved in the incident.
The teacher said she related all that she knew about the incident at the meeting so that all parties involved would be aware of what occurred. She further said that she told those in the meeting that she had called the injured student’s mother and subsequently called the parents of the child who dealt the kick. She informed Stabroek News that both sets of parents are usually asked to go to the hospital with the teachers and pupils.
The teacher added that after recounting what had occurred, the child’s father called her a liar and asked his son what happened. The teacher said she responded by asking the man how he could call her a liar when she was the one who stayed at the hospital the entire night. The father then told her that they should have consulted him and the boy’s mother before the child was taken to a private hospital if they were being asked to stand the cost for treatment of the child who was attacked.
She said an argument subsequently occurred during which the father called her a market vendor to which she replied, “I’m a market vendor just like your woman.”
The teacher recalled that the mother of the child then got out of her seat and shoved her at her forehead and she swatted the woman’s hand away from her face. The woman then attacked her. There was a third person there as well. “All three of them attacked me, it was three of them… I fell to the ground and he was pulling and kicking and another one was on my back and the teachers had to take her off my back,” the woman recounted.
“I am the one who is innocent and honestly I am hurt, cause this particular child, I would feed him many days and to know his parents would come and hit me, that’s the hurtful part. Persons on the outside just looking on and saying all sorts of thing,” she said, while adding that the children are with her every day for most of the day.
The teacher further told Stabroek News that the situation is too much for her and is causing her to be stressed. As a result, yesterday morning she was rushed to the hospital where she spent the entire day and is now on medication.
