No classes, gambling

SOME TEACHERS at the Tranquility Government Secondary School are reportedly not teaching their classes, which has resulted in students gambling and smoking on the compound. That is the claim of parents of children attending the Victoria Avenue school in Port-of-Spain and confirmed by school safety officers attached to the school. One parent complained to Newsday last week, saying her son who is in Form I is having very few classes on a daily basis. She said the problem has been ongoing since last October, a month after he began attending the school. The angry mother said it is not only her child being affected, but several others in various classes.

She said some days her child has no classes, while on others only one subject is taught. She said she is even contemplating having him transferred from the school. She said school officials are aware of the problem. The parents’ concerns were highlighted at a Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting on Thursday. Newsday was told the problem is “very serious,” as many parents were “bitter” about the issue. So said President of the National Parent Teachers Association (NPTA), Zena Ramatali, who attended the meeting. She told Newsday she was very disheartened at the parents’ concerns and is calling on the Ministry of Education, the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) and the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) to intervene. Ramatali said she was “almost brought to tears when I heard the concerns of the parents.”

She said the school has two safety officers, one of whom was at the meeting. Ramatali said the officer told parents that the children are gambling, smoking and playing cards on the compound because of all the “free time.” She said they also complained that some students were not conforming to the school’s rules. Ramatali said she learnt that while there is a full complement of teachers at the school, “they are not going to classes, and that is unacceptable.” “They are being paid to do a job and they must understand they are doing an injustice to the nation and the children.” Ramatali added that while it was teachers’ right to take their 28 days leave, it was totally unacceptable for them to not teach and sit in the staff room.

She felt some sort of disciplinary action should be taken against them. She insisted that TTUTA, the Education Ministry and the TSC get involve and deal with the problem. She also appealed to parents to discipline their children and have them conform to the schools’ rules. Ramatali noted that the safety officers had the power to arrest students, but “before that stage is reached, parents need to get their children in line and help discipline them.” When Newsday contacted the school principal, Dr Sandy, he said there was a full complement of 82 teachers who were entitled to take their days off.

He said when teachers are transferred, replacements were sent and said he had no knowledge students were being affected, in terms of having no classes. TTUTA President Clyde Permell said the union was unaware of a problem at the school, but suggested that the most appropriate person to investigate was the school supervisor. He said if the union was informed about problems then they would also have to speak with their members. Communications Specialist at the Ministry, Mervyn Critchlow, told Newsday they were unaware of problems but promised to inform the school supervisors so the matter could be investigated.