VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS

For a very long time now there has been trouble at the Arima Senior Comprehensive  School. There have been investigations, enquiries, reports, suspension of some teachers, other teachers have quit or asked for transfers to other schools. There has also been a reported decrease in the number of students who attend this school. Now we have Thursday’s incident when it is alleged students tried to start a fire in one of the classrooms and proceeded to beat up the security guards who tried to put out the fire.

We say “reports” because there has so far been no confirmation of the incident by either the school principal or the Education Ministry. There must be no attempt to cover up this affair or to pretend it did not happen. It must be understood that any attempt at sweeping under the carpet violence in schools will only serve to give the impression that the authorities are both weak and willing to condone misbehaviour. In the process other schoolchildren are encouraged to defy authority.

The fact must be faced that any ill-advised cover up, the turning away of the police who went to investigate and the failure of the school’s management to call in the Fire Services to check on the cause of the fire in the washroom will serve only to embolden the unruly and disruptive elements in our schools. It is a disturbing situation and cause for national concern. During the reported attack on the security guards at Arima, both teachers and uninvolved schoolchildren ran for their safety. A report in yesterday’s  issue of Newsday noted that guards reported that there had been a scuffle between some of their colleagues and schoolchildren attending the school, and that the students had been admonished.

They declined to comment further. When police from the Arima Police Station turned up, clearly in response to a call, they were told they were not needed. Who decided that there was no need for the police to intervene and investigate the outbreak of lawlessness which could readily have resulted in the Arima Senior Comprehensive School being burnt down? In turn, why had the Fire Service Division not been notified of the attempted arson, particularly as it had been so serious that the security guards had to extinguish it?

Why the effort to trivialise the incident? Of interest is that the school which had been built to accommodate a school population of 1,200, only has 600 on roll, and of these only approximately 400 turn up on any given day. Why is it that with the ongoing need for accommodation at five and seven-year schools is the Arima Senior Comprehensive so underutilised? Why is it that up to one-third of the children enrolled at the school are continually absent?

Has any action been taken? Have parents been notified of their children’s absences? In addition, why with a staff of 100, which means a staff/student ratio of one to four, does student discipline pose such a great problem? This Arima school presents a challenge for all those who are interested in the education of our children. What do the experts have to say about it? Can anyone provide the answer?