He said the errant teachers were identified based on a method of progressive discipline.

Progressive discipline includes counselling, verbal and written warnings and then referral (of a complaint) to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education for transfer to the TSC. Deoraj said his office meets regularly with the TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) about the unpunctuality and irregularity issues. TSC chairman Dr Fazal Ali said unpunctuality and irregularity resulted in a number of schools failing students in their Caribbean Examinations Council exams. Without naming them, he said, in two schools, 47 percent of students did not pass even one subject at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE). The failure rate ranged from 31 percent to 56.3 percent between 2009 to 2015.

JSC member Khadijah Ameen said the failing rates were an indication that, “the TSC is failing the children”, teachers were frustrated, many children do not have teachers, and the criteria for appointing deans were cumbersome. In response, Ali said the TSC was not in charge of schools and it was not failing the children. The TSC, he said, cannot appoint deans if they do not pass the criteria.

Saying the ministry’s decision to appoint a personal aide to work one on one with this child, in an effort to modify his alleged deviant behaviour is not enough – since similar attempts had failed in the past – parents insist either he is transferred or their protests will continue. The decision to have a personal aide work with the student was made on Tuesday following a protest outside the school in San Pedro.

But this did not go down well with the school’s PTA and a decision was made on Tuesday to stage a second protest yesterday. Told of the parents’ concern with this student for his alleged beating up of students at the school, causing two teachers to transfer out after assaulting them and sexually harrassing female students, Minister Garcia said he doubted these allegations as being “hard to believe.” His comments enraged the parents who said their children are afraid to attend school because of this one boy. Yesterday, they placed derelict tyres across the Tabaquite Main Road which they then set on fire along with other debris. “You are a very disrespectful Minister and you need to get out of office,” interim PTA President Savitri Persad said. “I mean that and we are going to continue this until you come and visit our school. The parents of Santa Rita RC demand an apology from you Mr Garcia because you are very disrespectful for such a big, educated man,” she added. Asked earlier this week whether he would visit Santa Rita RC, Garcia said he can’t be expected to “out every fire.” The PTA is calling for the boy to be placed in a specialized institution to receive the “professional help” they believe he need. Asked if such facilities exist for primary school students, Minister in the Education Ministry Lovell Francis said “yes”.

Secondary school students who are suspended or expelled are enrolled at learning enhancement centres geared toward behaviour modification.

TTUTA President Lynsley Doodhai said that not every education district has such centres and further, there are no institutions to specifically target primary school students with behavioural problems.

Chief executive officer of the Catholic Education Board Sharon Mangroo said she was concerned about this student who has been the target of protests.

“We are very concerned about him and want him to get the help he needs. Just today we were having a conversation about what we can do to deal with students who are suspended. We will be looking to see what we can do to offer whatever resources we have in this regard, perhaps through our parishes or elsewhere,” Mangroo said.

When Newsday visited the school yesterday, the boy was not at school and attempts to reach his parents were unsuccessful.

TSC Chairman Dr Fazal Ali yesterday told a Joint Select Committee at the Office of the Parliament that the current Act “does not even cover early childhood education” and has many gaps.

While putting together regulations governing the functions of the TSC and the Service Commissions along with the Ministry of Public Administration, Ali said, they found themselves trying to bring regulations based on a 1966 Education Act.

“The regulations must work with the act. If we put in place the regulations based on the current act, it would be “backward”. We want to create regulations for 2017 and for the future,” he said.

“We have decided that we want to ask the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to look at a new Education Act and for the regulations to be developed in parallel with the new act to allow for greater efficiency and management of the education system,” he said.

A new law, she said should allow for a new method of recruitment that will enable the education districts including the one Tobago to manage their education system with the commission having a monitoring role. The current model of recruitment in the public service, he said, is still based on late 1950s and early1960 models.

He said, the problem is generally compounded after general election with the creation of new ministries, like the current “mega” Ministry of Education which is “overseeing everything from ECCE to PhD.” The TSC, he said, can propose a new framework with which the Chief Parliamentary Counsel could work with to create a new law or amend the existing one to deal with the current and future state of education.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries imposed a temporary restriction on imports of all meat products from Brazil as a precaution.

President of the Supermarket Association (SATT) Dr Yunus Ibrahim told Newsday that while they were still awaiting guidance from the ministry and the Health Inspectorate, they instructed their members to pull the corned beef off the shelves.

“We have been very compliant and we just went ahead and pulled the product,” he said. The Brazilian Embassy, in a release yesterday, stressed that of the 4800 meat-packing plants in Brazil, irregularities were only found in 21, of which only six were licensed for export.

The Embassy said none of those establishments have exported corned beef to this country.

The Embassy also shared a declaration by its President Michel Temer who said that the Government decided to speed up the audit process in the 21 establishments cited in the Federal Police investigation.

Three have been suspended and all 21 will be placed under special inspection regime conducted by a specific task force of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA).

“Subsequent to the relocation the site was boarded up, locks were placed on doors and danger signs placed on buildings as well as signs warning of no trespassing,” Mitchell stated.

Later in the sitting, Social Development Minister Cherrie Ann Critchlow Cockburn said arrangements were made for officers from her ministry’s Family Services Division to visit the 25 evicted families yesterday.

She said one person has been liasing with the ministry on the families’ behalf.

Stapleton-Seaforth gave the assurance yesterday during her testimony in a lawsuit brought against the corporation by a homeless man who is challenging a decision to lock him and other homeless people out of Tamarind Square at nights.

Hugh Bernard has taken issue with the corporation for implementing the measure without providing alternative facilities.

The city corporation had also given assurances that the final gate to the square will not be locked until the matter is resolved in the courts.

In her testimony, Stapleton- Seaforth said it was never the intention to lock any of the gates at the square, including the fifth one.

She also said the corporation did not place the locks or locked the four of the five gates but had received it that way when the contractor hired to erect the fences handed over the square.

Stapleton-Seaforth was also adamant that it was never the POSCC intention to restrict access to Bernard or the homeless at the square.

In her affidavit, she said the action taken to lock the gates was to protect the public from grossly unsanitary conditions and due to health, safety and environment concerns.

She, however, could not say if keeping the four gates locked addressed the public health concerns of the corporation.

The trial, which is being presided over by Justice Eleanor Donaldson- Honeywell, will continue on April 3, with the testimony of the Public Health Inspector Of the POSCC.

Representing Bernard are Christopher Hamel Smith SC, Imran Ali and Krystal Richardson while Senior Counsel John Jeremie and Kerwyn Garcia appear for the Corporation.

The woman later told police she was made to lie on a bed by the suspect who proceeded to apply a machine used in chiropractic massage on her body. However, during the session, the man jumped on top of the teen and used his weight to pin her to the bed.

He then sexually assaulted her.

The woman later went to the Couva Police Station and reported the matter.

She was taken to the St Joseph health Centre where she was medically examined by a DMO and a report forwarded to the investigators.

Police said yesterday that an arrest is imminent.

The accused who is originally from Block 22 in Laventille, moved to Valencia recently and has been described by police as a habitual house breaker.

He was detained on Sunday after fingerprints taken from the scene of the crime matched prints of the suspect which were on file.

The man was taken into custody and after consultation with Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard SC, officers charged the man for Matthews’ murder.

On January 28, Matthews who had dual TT/American citizenship, was stabbed to death in her home which was ransacked and a quantity of valuables stolen.

Police seized a number of items from the house ans tested it for workable prints and were able to eventually make a match to that of the suspect over the weekend.

Her children who are all American citizens worked closely with the American Embassy in Port-of-Spain who in turn liaised with investigators checking on the status of the probe.

Yesterday, Garvin Heerah, former Director of the National Operations Centre (NOC) thanked the police for their efforts in bringing charges in the murder of his close relative Matthews.

According to a release sent by the Coast Guard, officers paid aerial surveillance on a yacht which was showing an erratic course.

The Coast Guard later intercepted the vessel which carried an Antigua and Barbuda flag. Officers boarded and searched the vessel, resulting in the drug find. Newsday understands that officers found 14 packets of high grade marijuana weighing in total, 17 lbs.

The Defence Force thanked all local, regional and international partners for their continued work with the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard in making the nation and the region safer spaces. For the year thus far the Coast Guard has seized $837,917,700 in drugs.

Al-Rawi made this declaration as he opened debate on the Plea Discussion and Plea Agreement Bill 2017 in the House of Representatives.

He was supported by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and Public Administrations and Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie later in the debate.

Saying the PP had, “the lawful opportunity as a sitting government with a special majority constitution” in the House to address the problems plaguing the criminal system, Al-Rawi said, “They came to the country and said here is a ministry of justice, specifically carved out to treat with improvements of the order that is required in TT.” Al-Rawi said the $40 billion expenditure, included $26,794,559241 spent by government ministries. He said this included $2,578,854, 591 spent by the former justice ministry (now a part of his ministry) and $1,483, 372, 567 by the Office of the Prime Minister. Al-Rawi said when expenditure of $15,083,124,998 by the Police Service was factored in, this equated to, “close to $40 billion of expenditure on crime” under the PP.

“That’s what we as taxpayers are paying,” Al-Rawi quipped.

The AG said in 2014, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) noted only 12 matters actually went through the plea bargaining process. He also said a six-year average for criminal cases disposed of from 2009 to 2016, showed that of 173 non-capital indictments were filed ,only 83 were disposed of.

As he observed that persons sentenced to hard labour by way of a guilty plea totalled 7,464 in the period 2011 to 2016, Al-Rawi argued there is data which shows, “there may be an appetite for a plea of guilty” and this would help to “lighten the burden of the criminal justice system.” Noting that Pamela Elder SC and the late Dana Seetahal SC offered comments which guided the fashioing of the bill, Al-Rawi said it was unfortunate that his predecessors had payment owing to Seetahal.

In his contribution, Deyalsingh said the bill was just one aspect of the measures Government is taking to deal with crime. He queried comments from Oropouche West MP Vidia Gayadeen-Gopeesingh about a national exoneration register, countering that this could lead to a situation where persons with criminal records could become doctors.

Responding to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Cuffie said the country “fell off the slippery slope” when Persad-Bissessar called a state of emergency in 2012.

He said it was unfortunate that while the country sees crime as a crisis, the Opposition is using it as an opportunity to get back into power.