Maestro must have turned in his grave when the video started with a young man playing, with his fingers, TT ’s national anthem on a pan app via what looked like an iPhone.

To add insult to injury, neatly stacked in the background were our national instruments from the Exodus Steelband.

Even though Exodus joined in the musical tribute, I was dismayed by the national anthem — supposedly a solemn patriotic song — being played on a pan app at the start of this soca/calypso musical tribute.

TT is one of the few countries in the world that has a national instrument.

Reproducing the sound of pan or any other instrument via electronics and technology, ingenious as this may be, should not take precedence over a country’s national instrument in the rendition of its national anthem.

For the record, the entire national anthem, via the same pan app, was aired on television during the country’s 2016 independence celebrations.

The pan app cannot be faulted for its convenience and being able to introduce the world to the sound of pan.

One can only hope that pan, the only percussion musical instrument invented in the 20th century, will not become a museum piece in the near future.

TT has to pay particular attention to its greatness.

Unfortunately, the late Dr Eric Williams, the father of the nation, was not nationally remembered on the 36th anniversary of his passing.

In the case of pan, will TT allow technology/electronics to erode the memory of pan’s role in the country or will it ensure its longevity for patriotic reasons and prove that a semblance of nationhood still exists? John Henry

The ministry recognises individuals’ right to express their opinion. In doing so, however, one must be responsible and careful not to make unsubstantiated or inflammatory statements, especially on issues pertaining to the nation’s children.

Feedback is considered from all platforms of communication, including social media.

However, commentators should present their opinions respectfully to support their point.

In the case of the minister’s response to a reporter who asked about a nine-year-old student beating teachers and sexually harassing students, the minister’s remarks were taken entirely out of context and the reporter who asked the question must know this.

The minister responded to what seemed like an incredulous assertion that a nine-yearold child was overpowering adults to issue a beating. In addition, the ministry has no official report that any teacher or aide had been physically attacked.

On the issue of the ministry’s approach to dealing with indiscipline in school, there is a system in place that has been producing results as evidenced by empirical data collected for 2015 and 2016.

The ministry’s data indicate that in secondary schools, suspensions for 2015 amounted to 5,257 whereas in 2016 suspensions in the same sector had fallen to 3,940 students, a decrease of 25.5 percent.

In primary schools, 296 students were suspended in 2015 while in 2016 the total number of primary school suspensions was 254, a reduction of 14.18 percent.

Additionally, a review of the suspension summaries for 2015 and 2016 show that less than one percent of our school population of 220,000 students were involved in disruptive and harmful behaviour.

Requests for extended suspension, which can only be granted by the minister, amounted to 132 in 2015. In 2016 requests were made concerning 48 students — a decline of 64 percent.

In 2017 so far the decline continues.

Our records are bolstered by the various intervention strategies implemented over time — all within the school-based management model. This model encourages the school to engage all its stakeholders in the management of the school and discipline is seen as a community responsibility.

It falls squarely within the advice Patasar gives in her article.

We at the ministry would hate to think that the advice is only good coming from a younger person, but when the policy is implemented by our ministers it is worthless.

Evidence over the past 19 months indicates that many of the intervention strategies implemented by the Ministry of Education have had a positive effect in schools and resulted in a decline of school violence and indiscipline.

This is also supported by feedback from some principals indicating their disappointment in the media’s treatment when reporting on issues of violence involving schoolchildren.

YOLANDA MORALES-CARVALHO Ministry of Education

I also remember the Strike Squad and how Philbert “Pamo” Jones was almost decapitated by a high-flying US defender in the early stage of a crucial match which decided our fate on the Road To Italy. No penalty was awarded.

This thing about referees and linesmen making mistakes in Port-of-Spain is not new. I am accustomed to that, so I won’t get hot under the collar over the disallowed goal last week against Mexico. I am not going to call for the Jamaican referee to be hanged in Woodford Square. No siree! What I will do is sentence the linesman, with FIFA approval, to listening with headphones to SuperBlue’s Get Something and Wave at full blast for a year. He must also wave that flag non-stop for a year. I don’t mind if he does a few gyrations while waving. I don’t even mind if he jumps and waves till he is tired.

Mr Linesman, you like to wave and misbehave? Take that!

Keith Anderson via email

Among those listed were rehabilitation centres in each district, parental involvement, training for principals and deans, discipline matrix and literacy and numeracy classes.

Since these initiatives were started well over 15 years ago (see Secondary Education Modernisation Programme, 2000, 2002, 2005), the question which has to be answered is: “Why have these reforms failed to take roots or to impact the system?”? Unless ministry officials address this question they will continue to flounder and “waste its sweetness in the desert air.” Years ago, principals were mandated, as part of their school development plans, to institute parent-teacher associations (PTAs) in their schools (see Local School Board Regulations, 2000). Why are we, in 2017, still calling on schools to establish such organisations? Perhaps the real question is why these organisations are not functional or why they have had little or no impact on the system except when there are physical problems? In some schools there is no more than ten parents at a PTA meeting. What changes in legislation are therefore needed in order to involve parents and the community in the decision-making processes in schools? We have had successful intervention programmes all over the world (eg Comer process, accelerated schools, improving the quality of education for all ). All of them have utilised parents, communities, universities, and governing councils.

The ministry itself had its own programme of Restructuring and Decentralisation (2004). Yet, after nearly 20 years, the structure of most schools has hardly changed — no school management team, no parental or community input, no development of a learning community, no monitoring of school progress.

The 35 schools with discipline problems are most likely underperforming schools which may have problems ranging from incompetent principals to lack of structures.

These schools need help immediately, and regurgitation of initiatives is not likely to produce positive results.

What these officials ought to be telling the population is how they are operating which is different from their operations in the past — how they are dealing with underperforming officials, supervisors, principals, teachers, performance management and schools; what is being done with a ministry which is itself impervious to change and any realignment of culture.

We can no longer afford to use words like, “We are looking at,” “We are thinking about,” and “We intend to.” These are really covert words to convey the impression that something is being done.

Dr Patrick Quan Kep via email

Some are involved in nefarious activities while others are engaged in bullying at school. The home environment is not conducive to the proper upbringing of these troubled youths.

There are three types of environments that contribute significantly to deviant behaviour by our young people: * An unstable home: This is when a child had a number of step-parents over a short period of time.

Moving from step-parent to step-parent can disrupt a child’s emotional growth and functioning.

* A single-parent home: A single parent can find it hard to maintain discipline in the home. The economic situation in most cases makes it difficult to take care of the needs of the child, resulting in the child being frustrated, angry and envious of what his or her peers have.

* Parents with a “gaza mentality”: These are parents who engage in fights in public places, pull weapons at individuals, “cuss-out” teachers and behave like bad-johns. Children growing up with such parents will pattern that same type of behaviour 99 percent of the time.

So the home environment needs to change for the sake of the children. There needs to be parenting courses available all over the country to help parents in raising children.

ANDRE ROBERTS via email

According to police reports at about 11.30 am on Sunday, police officers on patrol at Chin Chin Road, Cunupia observed the teenager and a 13-year-old boy walking along the roadway. Investigators said that on seeing the police vehicle, the teenagers began walking in the opposite direction.

The officers exited the vehicle and stopped and searched the teenagers.

A Taurus gun and five rounds of .38 ammunition were found in the 17-year-old’s possession.

Police said nothing illegal was found on the 13-year-old. The boys were detained and taken to the Cunupia Police Station where the younger one was released into the care of his parents. The other was later charged by PCs Elcock and Wickham.

In a separate incident, police officers arrested a man in connection with several shooting incidents in the Enterprise area. The man was detained during an exercise co-ordinated by Snr Supt McIntyre and led by ASP Smith on Friday.

In another incident in the Southern Division, two men were detained for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. Insp Don Gajadhar, PC Rampersad and a team of officers were on an exercise when they stopped a white Toyota Axio near Gulf View Drive, La Romaine on Friday. The vehicle was searched and 14.5 grammes of cocaine was found.

The men, ages 32 and 37, were arrested and later charged. Hours later in San Fernando, two other men, ages 37 and 42, were held for possession of 30.4 grammes of marijuana. This exercise was co-ordinated by ASP Mohammed and other police officers of the San Fernando Criminal Investigations Department.

Police Constable Micah Waldron placed first while his colleague PC Sandra Phillips-David placed third. The training and exam were organised by the Regional Police Training Centre in Barbados and saw participation from several Caricom countries.

The course began on March 27 and officers were exposed to all aspects of criminal investigations. At the end, they were given a written examination.

Both Waldron and Phillips-David were highly commended for their results and Newsday understands that they will be sharing some of the knowledge gained from the course with their colleagues.

Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams and members of his Executive were informed of the success of the officers and he was in high praise of them.

Matthew Lochansingh was fined $7,500 for possession of the gun and $5,000 for the three rounds of ammunition. He appeared before Senior Magistrate Margaret Alert in the San Fernando Magistrates Court.

The gun was found at Chapman Park Recreation Park, Hermitage Village, on the outskirts of San Fernando, on the night of March 9. Prosecutor Sgt Chanadath Jhilmit told Alert that police officers went to the park at about 9.30 pm and saw a group of men, including Lochansingh, seated in the pavilion. Pointing to the gun on the ground, the officers asked Lochansingh who the gun belonged to.

Lochansingh ran off but was pursued and arrested.

Two months after fire damaged the old Social Development Ministry building off Independence Square in Port-of-Spain, the same building caught fire yesterday but this time, the blaze gutted the entire structure.

No injuries were reported as fire tenders from Fire Headquarters responded to a report of the fire which was received at 3 pm. Fire and smoke were seen on the third floor of the building.

The area was cordoned off as firemen used a hydraulic ladder to get closer to fight the flames.

The fire was contained to the one floor, however other floors were affected by water damage.

On February 22, fire broke out at the same building. A release from the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services stated that no one in the ministry was affected by the fire, as the ministry was able to retrieve all assets and items from the building and has vacated is since the end of March.

Honore took the first set 4-1 and didn’t drop a game in the second in a dominating performance.

Favourite Solange Skeene shut out Jade Ali 4-0, 4-0 to continue her rampaging form from day one. In other matches in the division, Emily Lawrence defeated Charlotte Merry 4-2, 4-2 while Isabel Abraham needed three sets to get past Cameron Wong 5-3, 2-4, 4-1. Aalisha Alexis had little trouble dispatching Kryshelle Cudjoe 4-0, 4-0.

Skeene, campaigning in two divisions, survived a scare in the Under-16 class against Jade Tom Yew but prevailed in three sets. Tom Yew came out firing in the opening set which she claimed 5-7 but thoughts of an upset quickly dissipated with Skeene levelling the contest 6-1 in the second set. And Skeene completed the comeback courtesy a 6-2 effort in the decider.

In the Boys Under-16 age group, Adam Ramkissoon blew away Adrian Frection 6-0, 6-0.

Other results: BOYS U-14 – Ebolum Nwokolo def Emmanuel Porther 4-0, 4-0; David Rodriguez def Levi Hinkson 4-1, 4-2; Kyle Kerry def Isaac Blake 4-0, 4-0; Alexander Merry def Messiah Permell 5-4 (3), 4-0; Liam Sheppard def George 4-0, 4-0.

GIRLS U-14 – GIRLS U-10 – Jaeda-Lee Daniel- Joseph def Abigail Chin Lee 4-0, 4-0; Jordane Dookie def Inara Chin Lee 4-2, 4-0.