Teachers refuse to work

AS OF TODAY, teachers of the Siparia Senior Comprehensive School will not be teaching classes until stringent security measures are put in place to ensure their safety.

The drastic action was taken in light of a series of violent acts against teachers and pupils, gang violence and other intolerable activities at the school. Newsday understands that last week, a teacher two months pregnant was knocked unconscious by a pupil after she attempted to intervene in a fight. Despite being advised by the administration to “relax,” the teacher went to the hospital where she was given seven days sick leave. She returned to school yesterday. In another incident, a scratch-bomb exploded near a female pupil, resulting in her ear drum being damaged. The PTA took a decision yesterday to pay for her medical treatment. And yesterday, the police had to go to the school three times, once to arrest and charge a female student’s father following a report of a slapping incident. The 40-year-old man who assaulted the teacher in the presence of his daughter and other school children is expected to appear in the Siparia Magistrates’ Court today.

“The situation is out of control. We cannot continue teaching in a school where our lives are at risk,” a concerned teacher told Newsday yesterday. The teacher said the classes were disrupted on a daily basis by loud explosions from scratch-bombs and gang fights among the pupils. Another teacher who expressed similar problems at the school added that pupils had been caught smoking marijuana on the school premises before, and nothing was done about it. She said there were two MTS security guards at the school, one of whom has to be posted in the guard booth at all times. “So there is only one guard patrolling the ten blocks in the school and keeping an eye on 1,500 pupils,” she said. However, the 92 staff members and 30 auxiliary staff members have decided to take matters into their own hands and force the administration to put an end to the violence in the school. The staff are calling on the Ministry of Education and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association to intervene in the matter and come to their assistance.

A senior policeman told Newsday yesterday the Community Police had advised principal Rohit Ramkissoon to call a PTA meeting and invite the police to speak with the parents and pupils, but the principal failed to heed the  advice. The police source confirmed that a parent was arrested yesterday, adding that they had been receiving several reports about indiscipline and violence at the school. He said police are willing to work with the teachers and parents to find an effective solution to these problems.