Gone are the days when the “big stick tactics” worked. The population has outgrown its education system and there is need for change now .

Student violence, teacher absenteeism and principal/teacher indiscipline are just symptoms of an overburdened, ancient education system .

How in God’s green earth can a student who is being bullied be just as guilty as the students who are doing the bullying? How? That’s stupid .

When is the minister going to wake up and realise that the indiscipline in the secondary school is linked directly with student performance or lack thereof, the teacher’s ability to implement curriculum effectively and having the students complete curriculum that will engage and encourage learning .

When is Garcia going to wake up and realise that his teachers are tired, burned out and demotivated? When will he see that the school is a living, breathing organic system itself and, like most living things, it needs certain requirements in order for it to survive? Discipline cannot be done in isolation. It must be integrated into every aspect of the system .

When will he open his eyes and see that mass training of teachers have a low teacher implementation rate and that we need to move away from that format and adopt a more job-embedded professional development for teachers in order to improve teacher practices and student learning .

When will the minister realise that because the dichotomy of our society has evolved and is still in a state of evolution that the ministry itself will need to make major changes in order to treat with these so-called phenomena occurring daily at our schools? Again I will state, diversification of our economy is directly linked to diversification of our education system .

Low productivity levels are directly linked to how our citizens are trained to engage with the education they receive and the opportunities to develop innovative strategies to deal with today’s complex problem .

There is hope, but Minister Garcia must be willing to wake up .

As Atul Gawande said, “Better is possible. It does not take genius. It takes diligence. It takes moral clarity. It takes ingenuity. And above all, it takes a willingness to try.”

Stacey Gould educational consultant

There are many ways citizens are dying, and many things are killing us softly. If criminal activity does not get you, political stress, ole talk and mamaguy will. If economic stress does not get you, economic jargon and advisers will. If high prices do not get you, taxation and the Consumer Affairs Department will.

If traffic stress doesn’t get you, a day at the Licensing Department will. If a speeding driver does not kill you, a wait for the insurance money will.

If police inaction does not get you, domestic violence and a breach of the protection order will.

If tobacco and alcohol do not get you, bad food will. If doubles and fried chicken do not get you, rotten corned beef will. If bad medicines do not get you, a wait at a health institution will. If job loss or a broken relationship does not get you, depression will.

If national football does not get you, national cricket will.

If personal tragedy doesn’t get you, social media will. If bank fees do not get you, the hunt for forex will. If bikini mas does not get you, bacchanal in pan and calypso will. If the wait for justice doesn’t get you, legal fees will.

And the beat goes on. Life in TT really stressful in truth.

KEITH ANDERSON via e-mail

The move prompted a protest yesterday by the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) outside BPTT’s office at Queen’s Park Savannah West, Port of Spain.

OWTU’s labour relations officer Lindon Mendoza said the workers were “unceremoniously removed” from their offshore workstations. Mendoza said the decision of the workers was in keeping with the established “stop work” policy.

“The driller had a discussion with the offshore installation manager and also the night pusher,” he said.

“They were the two primary Rowan personnel onboard who were responsible for the operations and the rig. These personnel undertook to get back to the workers however, to date, the workers have had no feedback as it relates to the safety concerns raised. The workers were asked to leave the rig, leave their place of work, and when they refused to leave citing that they are well within their rights to initiate a stop work authority, the company Rowan would have used the judicial system to have the workers wrongfully removed from the installation via a High Court order.” Mendoza said there was no reason identified on the order.

When asked if the workers were trespassing on the rig and whether it was an injunction by the court to get the workers off the rig, Mendoza asked, “How can workers be trespassing on their place of work? Workers did not walk out to sea, workers did not swim out to sea, workers did not board their own vessel to sea, they were taken there by company transport.

These workers work on a 14-days on and 14- days off confined rotation basis.” He alleged there were a number of health and safety incidents with one occurring on March 27 where the top drive of the rig was damaged by two joints of drill pipes. Mendoza said the pipe fell and could have possibly injured or killed workers.

He said, prior to that a worker sustained injuries to his arm and another sustained injuries to his toe.

“After investigation we are not clear if these injuries were reported to the OSH (Occupational Safety and Health) Authority, which is mandated by the laws of this country.

What we are asking for this afternoon is an independent investigation by BP into the increase of the incidents and accidents onboard the Rowan EXL II rig and, secondly, the method by which the workers were removed when they were exercising both what is identified in the policy as a right and an obligation.” He said the workers are not aware of what their employment status would be and there is a rumour that the workers are now blacklisted from operations on any BP platform.

“We want BP to come out and make a categorical statement regarding these allegations.”

Sookhair handed over the reins at the chamber’s annual general meeting last week Wednesday at the chamber’s office at the corner of Cumberbatch Street and the Main Road. The AGM marked the final year of Sookhai’s three-year tenure as president of the Chamber. He will now operate on the board as the Immediate Past President.

Sookhai told the gathering in his final speech as president, that he and the CCIC had been able to achieve all they had during his tenure because of the support of the membership and the people of Chaguanas.

“The president of this chamber can bring change to Chaguanas and this chamber has the capacity to bring change not just to Chaguanas, but to Trinidad and Tobago as a whole,” Sookhai told members.

“Organisations like the Chaguanas Chamber have to shine like a beacon to society and we have to show great resolution and commitment to getting things done for our members and for our people.” “As the president of the Chamber over the past three years I have been particularly concerned by the rising crime in the area and the increasing incidences of bullying in our schools. Although a chamber is supposed to be about business we must never turn a blind eye to the alarming social conditions in our society,” he added.

It was for that reason, Sookhai said, the chamber initiated a CCIC Safety, Security and Sustainability Expo in June. This expo will highlight the latest technology and thinking in the areas of safety and security and will also address issues of crime and bullying through speakers who will bring their personal stories on how they have helped to turn around crime and bullying in their own schools and towns.

The outgoing president reminded members that the chamber is not only for large enterprises in the area but is there to support all businesses, be they large, medium, small or micro enterprises.

Even the smallest startup company, he said, would be welcomed to join the Chamber and have their concerns aired and voiced by the Chamber.

Sookhai highlighted the contributions of various board members and made special mention of Labib Najar of Metal-X Ltd who had allowed the Chamber to operate out of his premises for several years

The announcement was made in a statement issued by NGC last Friday. BP proposed to invest US$5 billion in future development which will greatlly assist in the alleviation of the gas shortage situation in the country.

NGC chairman Gerry Brooks and NGC president Mark Loquan advised that the Angelin project will build upon recent game-changing initiatives in TT. These include the Trinidad Offshore Compression (TROC), Juniper and Dragon projects.

Together with these projects, the Angelin gas development project, will stabilise gas production against projected decline.

Brooks commended the NGC and bpTT teams for the constructive manner in which the talks were conducted.

NGC also noted that similar discussions are taking place with other upstream companies, such as Shell which is a partner on the Dragon project with Venezuelan state energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).

Noting that discussions on Dragon are progressing actively, Brooks said meetings continued in TT earlier this week, with the formation of the commercial and technical teams. Brooks and Loquan indicated that in order to pre-empt future gas shortage situations in TT, discussions and negotiations around future projects must be conducted with the appropriate lead times.

West Indies will not have much time off, as they face the same opponents in a three-match One Day International series starting on Friday in Guyana.

West Indies, who played a solid match on Saturday to win the third match in the T20 series by seven wickets, could only look on as Pakistan outplayed them in all facets of the game.

Chasing a modest 125 for victory, Pakistan assessed the match situation and eased their way to 127 for three in 19 overs. Batting first, West Indies posted 124/8.

Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal got Pakistan’s run chase off positively with a 40-run opening partnership.

Off-spinner Sunil Narine was introduced earlier than usual, as West Indies tried to break the partnership. However, it was parttime off-spinner Marlon Samuels who got the breakthrough in the seventh over as Pakistan were reduced to 40/1. Babar Azam and Shehzad then took the match away from West Indies with a 70- run partnership.

The pair batted smartly, rotating the strike while entertaining with the occasional boundary.

Leg-spinner Samuel Badree, known for his economic bowling, was struck for a six by both Azam and Shehzad. Azam cleared the midwicket fence, while Shehzad confidently chipped down the wicket to dispatch Badree over long-on. Badree ended with figures of 4-0-38-0.

Shortly after Pakistan got to 100, Shehzad brought up his 50 with a four through the covers.

Shehzad was bowled behind his back by pacer Kesrick Williams for 53 (44 balls, six fours, one six), before Azam was well caught for 38 (37 balls, one four, one six) by substitute fielder Rovman Powell at midwicket to give Williams another scalp. Shoaib Malik (nine) and captain Sarfraz Ahmad (three) ended the match with an over to spare.

Williams grabbed 2/16 in three overs, while Samuels took 1/11 in two overs.

Pacer Hasan Ali (4-2-12-2) won the Man of the Match award, while leg-spinner Shadab Khan took the Player of the Series award for his haul of 10 wickets.

It was a far cry from the batting performance that West Indies showed on Saturday as only three batsmen got into double figures. Opener Chadwick Walton got West Indies off to a solid start, top-scoring with 40, while Samuels scored 22 and captain Carlos Brathwaite showed the timing that won the 2016 T20 World Cup for West Indies with an unbeaten 37.

Walton, who watched his opening partner Evin Lewis entertain the Oval spectators on Saturday with a knock of 91, got West Indies to 52/1 after eight overs.

However, he could not post a half century as he was caught at longon by Malik for 40 off 31 deliveries off Khan.

Khan, who took seven wickets in the first two matches of the series, again caused problems for the West Indies batsmen taking 2/16 in four overs.

Samuels played with his usual elegance, guiding a delivery for four through covers as West Indies got to 59/2 after 10 overs.

The Windies progress slowed down with the loss of Walton as Jason Mohammed joined Samuels.

Mohammed, who struggled to find the fluency he showed on Saturday, had his middle stump knocked out of the ground by Ali for one attempting a drive as Windies slumped to 59/3 after 11 overs.

The fall of Mohammed did not affect Samuels, as he cracked a six over backward point off Wahad Riaz, and the next ball struck another six over long off to end a productive 12th over for West Indies.

The score quickly became 73/5 after 13 overs, as Lendl Simmons and Samuels fell in consecutive deliveries.

Simmons ran himself out for one as he struck a straight drive and the bowler Ali got a hand on the ball. Ali then ran a short distance to retrieve the ball before running Simmons out. Samuels was then bowled for 22 with a delivery that kept low.

Khan came back into the attack and troubled Kieron Pollard, as the right-hander played and missed. But Pollard and Brathwaite kept the scoreboard ticking with some good running in between the wickets.

Pollard was next to go as he was bowled for three by Rumman Raees, before Jason Holder was caught for a duck at long-off. Pakistan were now in control of the match with West Indies on 83/7 after 15.2 overs.

Brathwaite and Sunil Narine then shared in a fightback, with the former hitting two sixes over long-on, one off Raees and the other off Wahab Riaz.

Brathwaite also rode his luck, swinging hard at a delivery and getting a four down to third man with an edge.

Narine was bowled for nine trying to heave a delivery over midwicket as West Indies stumbled to 124/8 after 20 overs.

The boy told police officers that after the man committed the act in a washroom at a recreation ground in Plymouth, Tobago, he was given a dollar. A medical examination confirmed that the boy had been sexually molested and investigators believe that the act has happened before with the same man who is said to be known to the child.

According to reports, the child was at the recreation ground playing with other children when, at about 5.30 pm, he was approached by the man. The child said he was led into the toilet near the recreation ground and assaulted. After the man left, the child reported the incident to a relative who took him to the Scarborough Police Station.

He was then examined by a doctor.

A report was made to the Child Protection Unit and a search was carried out for the suspect who is believed to have gone into hiding.

Residents of the area also began searching for the man but he has not yet been found.

Yesterday, police advised parents with children to look out for the suspect and to exercise all the necessary precaution.

Head of the Islamic Front Umar Abdullah made the confirmation yesterday saying Wakeel has “reservations about it.” “There is no meeting with the police,” Abdullah said. “He has reservations about it and he must be very careful. Yesterday (Saturday) we had a lengthy meeting with members of the so-called Unruly group.” On Friday, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and several senior police officers walked through several well-known hotspot areas in the crime-ravaged area.

During that tour, Abdullah accompanied Wakeel to meet the officials among them Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Wayne Dick and Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams. While at Crown Trace, Wakeel promised to reveal all he knew about crooked police officers and where the illegal guns are. Days earlier, Wakeel had posted several videos on social media of himself singing about shootings and gang violence.

Yesterday Abdullah said he advised Wakeel to refrain from such actions and the young man agreed.

“I advised him to stop making such statements on Facebook. So, there is an agreement. It is good to bring about that peace. We have a lot of things planned – two programmes are coming soon. You will hear more about it in the days to come.” Abdullah said that either today or tomorrow, a press release would be sent to media houses for coverage of the issue.

“The press conference will be on Friday after juma (Islamic prayers).

We are still deciding a venue.” Unruly ISIS and the Rasta City gangs are warring and police said most of the killings in Enterprise are due to conflicts between the rival gangs.

Police confirmed that investigators are yet to obtain statements from Wakeel.

Efforts to contact National Security Minister Edmund Dillon for comment proved futile as all calls went unanswered.

Khan made this comment as he prepared to resume his ministerial duties today after being off the job for three and a half months as he recuperated. Khan told Newsday he still does not know how his wife was able to cope with everything when he fell ill in Thailand last year.

Recalling that he was hospitalised for 12 days in that country, Khan said, “My wife was there for me throughout, both in Thailand and in Trinidad. How she navigated through my illness in Thailand is unbelievable. In a strange land, halfway across the world where they don’t speak English. I thank her most sincerely.” Khan fell ill while he and his wife were on vacation in December. At a post-Cabinet news conference at that time, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young denied reports that Khan suffered a heart attack. He explained that Khan’s condition was a result of, “some issues related to his heart and he went through some non-invasive medical procedures.” Last July, Khan was hospitalised as he underwent a stent procedure at a private hospital to treat blocked arteries in his heart.

Khan had surgery in this country on January 9. He said yesterday, “There are no planned changes in my schedule but obviously, I will be pacing myself.”

Howe had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2007. In paying tribute to Howe, Public Administration and Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie said, “His passing underscores the ending of the era when the West Indian Diaspora was more closely aligned to the countries of the region.” He continued, “He helped the assimilation of the West Indian Diaspora. He did so while remaining true to both his nationalities.

Cuffie described Howe as the voice of the post-colonial era.

“He was a respected, centralising and unifying force of the wider immigrant community.” In extending his condolences to Howe’s family, friends and colleagues, Cuffie said, “He was a for a long time a solitary but outspoken voice for the TT and the West Indian community in the United Kingdom.” Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal said, “Howe was a socially conscientious Trinidadian civil rights activist who provided decisive and inspirational leadership to West Indian immigrants in Britain and in TT during the late 1980’s.” He said people must recognise and be inspired by Howe’s, “courageous struggle against institutional racism in the United Kingdom.” Moonilal also said Howe “maintained an abiding interest in the land of his birth.” He said evidence of this can be found in the documentary “The Gathering Storm,” which focused on the social crisis and critical contribution to the West Indian cause.

Moonilal concluded, “Regrettably, he will not be able to report on the decay in TT under this PNM (People’s National Movement) regime.” Former parliamentarian Raffique Shah said he first met Howe in the 1970’s just before the Black Power Riots and they formed a friendship that “lasted a lifetime.” Shah said many people do not know that Howe also championed the cause of Indian immigrants in Britain in the 1970’s with respect to housing. Shah also remembered Howe as “a die-hard Renegades person.” Movement for Social Justice leader David Abdulah said he was close to Howe personally and politically. Abdulah remembered Howe as “a very perceptive journalist.” Howe, christened Leighton Rhett Radford, was born in Moruga. The son of an Anglican priest, he first moved to England at the age of 18, arriving on the SS Antilles at Southampton. While he initially intended to study law at Middle Temple, Howe left the law for journalism. He returned to Trinidad where his uncle and mentor, CLR James, inspired him to combine writing with political activism.

He had a brief spell as assistant editor at the Trinidad trade union paper, The Vanguard, before returning to the United Kingdom where he served as editor of the magazine Race Today from 1973 to 1985. His successor as editor, Leila Hassan, eventually became his third wife.

Howe became a member of the British Black Panther Movement, and in the summer of 1970 took part in a protest against the frequent police raids of the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill, where he worked on the till. The restaurant had become a meeting place for black people, serving as what Howe called the “headquarters of radical chic”. Howe and eight others—the Mangrove Nine—were arrested for riot, affray and assault.

He and four of his co-defendants were acquitted of all charges after a 55-day trial in 1971. In 1977, Howe was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for assault, after a racially motivated altercation at a London Underground Station, but was released upon appeal after protests over his arrest. In 1982, Howe began his broadcasting career on Channel 4’s television series Black on Black, later co-editor with Tariq Ali of Bandung File and later White Tribe, a look at modern- day Britain and its loss of “Englishness”.

In October 2005, Howe presented a Channel 4 documentary Son of Mine, about his troubled relationship with his 20-year-old son Amiri, who had been caught handling stolen passports, shoplifting, and accused of attempted rape. He was a keynote speaker at the 2005 Belfast Film Festival’s “Film and Racism” seminar and presented his documentary Who You Callin’ a Nigger? at the festival.

On October 19, 2005, Howe got involved in an angry debate with American comedian Joan Rivers (now deceased) on the BBC Radio 4 programme “Midweek”, where he appeared to promote this documentary.

The dispute began when Howe suggested that Rivers was offended by the use of the term “black.” Rivers objected strongly to the suggestion that she was racist and accused Howe of having a “chip on his shoulder.” Howe was married three times and had seven children. His daughter Tamara was a director of production for London Weekend Television.