The Ministry of Education is investigating the circumstances that led to two uniformed members of the Guyana Police Force entering the Covent Garden Secondary School’s compound and manhandling a male student.
The incident occurred last week after a teacher lost her iPhone.
This newspaper learned that the teacher summoned a friend who is a police officer to the school, located on the East Bank of Demerara, rather than making an official report to the Police Station.
The teachers then detained several students and began searching their bags but turned up empty-handed. According to a student at the school, one of the male fourth formers refused to comply with the teachers’ demand and it was then that he was accosted in the schoolyard.
In a video published on social media site TikTok shows two police officers in the company of two teachers attempting to restrain the male student. One of the officers attempted to shove the student to the ground in a bid to arrest him all while the teachers stood by holding helmets and other items belonging to the officers.
This was being done as students were heard screaming “No, don’t do he duh” and “Oh my god.”
Education Minister Priya Manickchand said she is outraged at the incident and promised an investigation into the matter. On Thursday, she said that preliminary investigations revealed that the teacher summoned the police to the school as a personal favour, which should not have happened.
Yesterday, this publication contacted her for an update and she said she would return the call after she spoke to the Education Officers in charge of the investigation. However, she did not and subsequent calls to her phone went unanswered.
According to several teachers, a police officer can only enter a school’s compound on official duty after they have been invited by the Head Teacher. Several persons have also criticised the actions of both the teachers and officers since the student’s parents/guardians were not called in prior to him being manhandled.
