Garcia: Students who vandalise furniture will be made to pay

He made the comments during a media interview after delivering letters of appointment to the National Schools Dietary Services board at the Education Towers, Port-of-Spain. He was responding to a suggestion on Wednesday by Senator Rodger Samuel at a Public Accounts Committee meeting that students should have to pay for damaged furniture.

Yesterday Garcia said that it is an idea that is worth exploring and pointed out that, at times, furniture are damaged not because of the students, but from the paucity of manufacture.

“I know from personal experience that in many cases we have furniture that were supplied by manufacturers that were substandard,” he reported.

He said when children sit on it for a prolonged period, the joints came apart and, after a term or two, it is no longer serviceable.

“So I will not make a broad statement that the student needs to pay for damaged furniture. It all depends on the circumstances that led to the damage,” he added.

Asked about cases of wilful vandalism, Garcia said the children “will be held responsible” and the child or the child’s parents will have to pay for it.

On security at schools, Garcia said it is a concern and recalled there was a time when schools only required a night watchman.

“I would love to see the day when we don’t have to have all these security personnel in our schools and we would not be saddled with a large security bill,” he said.

On the issue of literacy problems with children, raised the previous day by Minister in the Education Ministry Dr Lovell Francis, Garcia said he found it “unacceptable” that a child could spend seven years at primary level and not be able to read or comprehend or do mathematics properly.

He reported they will be launching “a frontal attack” on this problem starting at the level of standard one which is a transition stage that is challenging to some of their teachers. He said that they will be giving additional resources to standard one and form one levels and tracking performance.