A female teacher opted to arm herself with a weapon on Monday at Houston Secondary School, Georgetown, during an altercation with a parent and student, explaining that she was protecting herself after being attacked.
In the video circulating on social media, other teachers were seen trying to restrain the teacher and student to prevent them from fighting, however it escalated and she could be seen brandishing the weapon and rushing to the school gate.
Both the teacher and parent were taken to the Ruimveldt Police Station, however, the teacher was later released from police custody. Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand; President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Mark Lyte; and General Secretary, Coretta McDonald; visited the teacher at the police station after she was placed into police custody. The teacher told reporters at the station, “What I want to say is that this thing has become the new COVID, and as an educator I would like to see a better relationship between teachers, parents and students. So we can work on what we are paid to do which is to educate charges in our area. I was attacked by a parent and a student.”
Lyte told reporters, “It [does] seem to be the new COVID, the new way that parents and students try to resolve their challenges with their teachers and the school system. It is really bothersome and worrying on our part as a teacher representative body and as teachers ourselves to really find out what is happening because the aggression has got to stop. We got to find applicable ways to resolve our differences, obviously children go home they tell their parents things and the best thing to do is to come and find out what is happening. The issues that we see arising now is a lot of aggression, I don’t know if people are experiencing pressures in life. The aggression and the violence and the level of abuse has got to stop. We would like to see legislation being reformed to address that, we would like to see better security system at the schools, we would like to see counsellors at the schools to see children who are having challenges.”
The GTU said in a brief press release that the teacher, Kimone Gentle, was released after union members together with its attorney, negotiated her release. “We want our members to know that we are here to provide full support to them when these distasteful acts are meted out against them by parents and students. We call upon the Guyana Police Force and the Ministry of Education to protect our teachers and provide them with the justice they deserve. It’s a total shame to see that a female teacher has to go to an extreme to defend herself at her place of work. The same place where teachers are expected to educate and keep learners safe, they themselves are unsafe. We will be taking extreme actions if these acts against our teachers aren’t dealt with.”
The police issued the following statement today:
Parent, teacher involved in Houston Secondary incident assisting Police with ongoing investigation
Police are probing an incident which occurred yesterday (Thursday, March 23, 2023) at about 10:30hrs at the Houston Secondary School involving a teacher, 43-year-old Kimone Gentle and a parent, a 43- of Grove Housing Scheme, EBD, and her 17-year-old son who is a fifth form student of the said school.
According to the 43-year-old teacher, at about 10:30hrs on the said date, she was sitting in an office when the 43-year-old parent and her 17-year-old son entered the school.
The teacher reportedly approached the woman and enquired about her relationship with the student, when the woman allegedly responded in a loud tone saying, “I am his mother.” The teacher asked the parent to lower her voice since exams were ongoing in the various classrooms, to which the parent responded, saying: “All ayo teachers got a problem with meh child and I gon teach you something today”.
The teacher further alleged that the parent took out her phone, approached and began videoing her.
The teacher asked the parent twice to remove the phone from her face, which she ignored and continued to video while allegedly behaving aggressively towards the teacher. The parent’s hand hit the teacher’s reading glasses, which fell to the ground.
According to the 43-year-old parent, on the said date, she went to the school, along with her son, to meet with the school’s HM concerning an incident her son was involved in.
The woman stated that upon entering the school, she met Ms Gentle and told her the purpose of her visit.
The woman further claimed that while waiting to see the HM, the 43-year-old teacher enquired about her relationship with the student and told the teacher that she was the student’s mother. The parent said the teacher began complaining about her son’s attitude and conduct in school.
The parent claimed that she replied to Ms. Gentle by saying: “All ayo advantaging my son”, when it is alleged that the teacher abused her with a series of expletives.
The woman further told police she then pulled out her cell phone and began recording the teacher’s conduct towards her, during which the teacher approached her and hit the phone out of her hands, causing it to be damaged.
As a result, an argument ensued between the parent and the teacher, which turned into a scuffle.
During the scuffle, the teacher allegedly picked up a chair and dealt the parent several lashes about her body, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground, receiving injuries to her body.
The 17-year-old male student, upon seeing such, reportedly went to his mother’s aid when he was also allegedly assaulted by the teacher.
Other teachers parted the commotion, and the school’s security escorted the parent and her son out of the compound. The teacher armed herself with a cutlass and charged behind the parent and her son but was calmed by other school teachers.
After the ordeal, the teacher and parent were arrested and taken to the Ruimveldt Police Station.
They were both subsequently released, to return today.