Oliver blames Ministry for school problems

TTUTA president Trevor Oliver is calling on the Ministry of Education to immediately implement the Schools Intervention Strategy (SIS), and blamed the spiralling rate of indiscipline in the nation’s secondary schools on the absence of the programme.

According to Oliver, if the SIS is implemented there would definitely be a reduction in violent incidents in the nation’s schools. The Education Ministry, however, must go about this the right way, as they need to have adequate funding for the programme to be carried out effectively. Oliver chastised the Education Ministry for not taking the high levels of violence in the education system seriously.  He said: “The Ministry of Education is partly to blame for the problems teachers are faced with today. They continue to sit by, and refuse to do what is necessary to ensure that the nation’s children be afforded a proper learning environment.” Provisions of adequate security guards at the country’s senior secondary schools continue to be a problem, Oliver said, and called for the situation to be rectified, not only at the Siparia Senior Comprehensive School, but at the San Fernando East Junior Secondary School as well, where two students were chopped last week during an altercation with other students at the school. TTUTA plans to pay a personal visit to the teachers of the Siparia Senior Comprehensive School, where further discussions will be held.