Youth Council seeks meeting with Hazel

THE Trinidad Youth Council is seeking a meeting with Education Minister Hazel Manning to discuss the immediate implementation of Student Councils in all secondary schools and alternatives to corporal punishment. The Council last Friday said while schools were being transformed from “the sanctity for overall growth and development to an environment that harbours a display of aggression from our young people, we operate in a state of denial, blindfolding ourselves to a harsh reality that we are scared to acknowledge.”

It said its call to meet with the minister was a serious one and felt such a meeting could “chisel out” a much needed resolution to the issue.
Referring to the violent incident at the Siparia Senior Comprehensive school, the Council said it was disappointing that judgement was passed on the situation before a thorough investigation. The organisation said it heard reports of the incident being allegedly instigated by a teacher. The Council is suggesting a proactive approach to deal with the youth delinquency issue instead of waiting for more incidents to occur.

In the wake of the outbreak of student violence and delinquency, Education Minister Hazel Manning last week said her Ministry had come up with an “action plan” including the hiring and use of retired policemen and soldiers to act as ‘‘wardens’’ at schools. These wardens would be responsible for for formulating a security and safety plan for each school. This plan would include an emergency plan “to deal quickly” with any crisis, the Education Minister told Newsday last week.  “You need security plans in the schools. Something happens and there is no one to turn to. The warden’s job would be to create a security plan with the teachers, the principal and the students, whether it is to look after the fence, whether it is to monitor the MTS guards or to work with the police in the area,” Manning added.