Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, has said that a recently concluded Regional Department investigation reveal-ed that an incident that occurred at Woodley Park Secondary on February 17th, was not racist. And a man is slated to be charged for his actions at the school.
Manickchand told Stabroek News in a telephone interview on Friday that an investigation by the Regional Department revealed that some children who were waiting for transportation to head home got into an altercation with a teenager after one child asked if he was drunk. This descended into an argument that included offensive name calling. The following day the teenager involved in the incident took his father to the school to defend him and parents got involved.
Manickchand maintained that the incident was an argument that involved name calling by both parties which deteriorated after the father arrived to defend his son. That father is slated to be charged for his actions.
Manickchand condemned all acts of racism and added that if students are threatened by racist attacks, she would definitely visit the school because such behaviour will not be tolerated.
After the incident became public, Manickchand had said on her Facebook page: “A very serious allegation of verbal and physical abuse of students accompanied by alleged unacceptable and criminal racist language has come to my attention regarding children attending the Woodley Park Secondary School. This will be fully investigated both by the Guyana Police Force as well as the Regional Education Department and as soon as those findings are available I will make them public. In the meanwhile every action will be taken to keep our children attending that school safe. And anyone who attempts to interfere with that will be dealt with condignly”.
After the incident, the PNCR had said that on the 17th of February 2023, during the instructional period, the peace of the Woodley Park Secondary School was disturbed by some residents of Woodley Park Village, West Coast Berbice.
“During this disturbance (which was a continuation of a similar occurrence on the 16th of February 2023 on the entrance streets to the school) Afro-Guyanese students were physically assaulted and verbally abused as seen in a video emanating from parents of students from the above-mentioned school. Persons were seen armed with pieces of wood walking around the compound of the school as parents and teachers confronted the intruders in the presence of students. In the said video recording one student complained to a teacher that he was cuffed. Subsequently, photographs from parents sent to Member of Parliament Vinceroy Jordan showed the severity of physical injuries to the hands, feet and head of the affected students”, the party said in a release.
While parents and teachers tried their utmost to put the intruders out of the compound, the PNCR said that they vowed in the presence of all to return after lunch on Friday 17th of February 2023. This matter was then reported to the Department of Education, Region No. 5 while the parents reported the matter to the Police.
It is reported that just as the villagers promised to return the following day, a larger gang of villagers converged at the school and attacked only Afro-Guyanese students this time causing bodily injuries, disrupting school sessions for the remainder of the day. There was no security guard at the school, the party added.
The PNCR said that a follow up on the reports that were made by teachers and parents at the Fort Wellington Police Station indicated that no arrest was made. Senior officials of the school visited the Education Department seeking immediate help but at that time no Education Officer was present to give guidance while the Regional Education Officer could not be reached by telephone.
“The Ministry of Education through the Department of Education has failed to visit the school or the affected children and parents so as to give guidance on this matter. This leaves the parents and teachers with more questions of their safety and security of their well-being both at school and while traversing the community to get to school”, the PNCR said in the release.
“We are, therefore, calling on the Ministers of Education and Home Affairs to immediately investigate this matter and put mechanisms in place so as to ensure that instructional periods are not further disturbed and the parents and students can feel safe returning to school”, the party added.
