Come September, schools across the country could see a national policy on violence.
This was confirmed by the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand in a recent interview with Stabroek News when she noted that the first draft of the policy had been presented to her.
The document should be ready for the new school term following consultations with key stakeholders.
“…the first draft was presented to the Ministry of Education and we are currently engaging other stakeholders for a holistic plan to be implemented by September”, she said.
The policy is coming in the wake of a string of incidents at schools involving teachers, parents, students and even gangs.
Manickchand said that when the policy is completed it will deal with all of the issues. Questions have been raised about the quality of security at schools.
“Looking at security in schools in holistic, It’s not just a guard at a school, it’s what causes the behaviour, and who else are stakeholders we need to engage to ensure that we address and then of course even when we are addressing in that way; what do we do with students who are persistently disruptive”, she said.
The Minister did not want to say what the policy might entail but noted that all stakeholders will be involved in its assembly.
Several months ago, the Minister said that a Special Committee would be set up to deal with policies going forward in addressing violence in schools following several student-teacher-parent confrontations, some of which escalated into violence.
The committee that was established was headed by Education Specialist, Olato Sam.
Recent incidents included an attack on a teacher by a parent at Graham’s Hall Primary School, East Coast Demerara and a similar attack by a parent on a teacher at Winfer Gardens Primary School, Georgetown. In both cases the perpetrators were charged and placed before the court.
Other instances of school violence included an attack on a student by a gang armed with scissors, wood and a knife at Harmony Secondary School, Wismar, Linden and at the Lodge Secondary and Campbellville Secondary schools in the city, where armed intruders, accompanied by students, invaded the schools’ compounds and attacked both teachers and students. At Houston Secondary School, an altercation between a student and a teacher escalated with the interjection of a parent. In this instance, the teacher armed herself with a cutlass. Several of these events were filmed and posted on social media. One educator has referred to the violence as the ‘new Covid’.
Protest actions followed several of these altercations and saw teachers, parents and students voicing frustration at the lack of safe school environments. They pointed to a number of security gaps. These include no proper security. In some instances, they said, there are single unarmed guards who are unable to provide any form of protection against intrusions. They also cited inadequate fences at schools, which render them vulnerable to intruders.
