Cops, Ministry to meet on unruly students

SENIOR police officers are expected to meet with officials of the Ministry of Education later this week to develop a plan to deal with unruly behaviour among school children. This follows the arrest of a 14-year-old schoolgirl and three of her classmates last Friday evening on the Brian Lara Promenade. The three were charged with assaulting the police and using obscene language and  will appear before a Port-of-Spain magistrate tomorrow.

Also arrested last Friday was a photo journalist from a weekly newspaper who was charged with using obscene language and resisting arrest. The Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) will hold a press conference today to discuss the matter. Senior police officers said every year during the Carnival season, large numbers of students converge on Port-of-Spain, cursing, fighting and challenging the police. Attempts to get the children to go home fall usually on deaf ears. According to one senior officer, last Friday, following the Schools’ Soca Monarch Competition at the Queen’s Park Savannah, several students who were reportedly behaving badly on the streets of Port-of-Spain were told to go home by police officers. The students reportedly cursed the officers while others insisted that the police could not force them to leave the city.

Following the arrest of three school children, several disgruntled students made their way to the Besson Street Police Station and behaved in an unruly manner. A school supervisor from the Ministry of Education was called to the Besson Street Police Station and the names of the children and their schools were recorded. The police are expected to submit a report on the incident to the Ministry of Education tomorrow.