A female teacher was yesterday assaulted by a parent at St Angela’s Primary School in South Cummingsburg, Georgetown. The attack left the teacher with injuries to her face, neck and other parts of her body.
This is the second attack by a parent on a teacher in two days. Another parent was attacked at Graham’s Hall Primary on Wednesday.
A video that circulated on social media yesterday showed the parent who barged upstairs, pushed a teacher out of the way and confronted another teacher. In the video, she could be seen assaulting the teacher. The headmistress and other teachers intervened and pulled the attacker from her victim.
General Secretary of the Guyana Teacher’s Union, Coretta McDonald, yesterday told Stabroek News that there was some misunderstanding between a pupil and the teacher, which the parent did not take lightly. However, rather than follow established procedure by lodging a complaint with the headmistress of the school, the parent barged into the school and went straight to the classroom where the teacher was at the time, and assaulted her. The school reported the matter to the Alberttown Police Station which responded and subsequently arrested the parent. The teacher was taken to a hospital to obtain a medical for the injuries sustained and is due to return to the police station to give a statement. McDonald noted that the police will take it from there.
The General Secretary stated that at the moment, she is unable to say what action will be taken by the Ministry of Education, but echoed the Chief Education Officer’s position that these actions cannot continue. She posited that these actions taken by parents against teachers cannot be condoned and are condemned everywhere in the world. She added that teachers must be comfortable and safe in their place of work.
She underscored that there are other ways parents can deal with problems rather than take matters into their own hands. McDonald added that there are standard operating procedures that are in place that parents should follow to resolve the matter.
Further, if a parent feels that they haven’t received the satisfaction they need from the school then there is a department within the Ministry of Education where they can lodge their complaints.
The union official also disclosed that both teachers will be off work for a period as they are traumatized and will need counselling.
A press release on Wednesday from the Ministry of Education stated that schools are considered a safe space and any act of violence is deemed unacceptable.
“Parents or guardians are reminded that in any instance where an incident occurs with a teacher, the matter must be brought to the attention of the head teacher or teacher in-charge of the school or institution,” the ministry advised in its release, in relation to the assault of the teacher on Wednesday.
