Serious allegations have been levelled against staff and students at the Chaguanas North Secondary School connecting them to Isis operations and other high-scale illegal activities.
The Sunday Guardian received information from sources within the institution after the Central school made headlines in mid-February.
Alleged reports of criminal behaviour among a core group of students have since led to two students being charged and about two dozen others removed from the school.
However, the levels of criminality are escalating and staff is deeply concerned for its safety.
Students carrying out blatant acts in the system were said to have come from primary schools and that the larger secondary school environment was reason for them to enhance their already acquired skills.
This newspaper was told that there was an Isis sleeper cell operating out of the school and that students were being recruited, mainly Form Four boys.
However, this allegation was immediately dismissed by former senior superintendent of the Central Division Johnny Abraham when contacted.
He said: “Nah, that has to be ole talk. I have no information about that.”
Sunday Guardian was told that the Ministry of National Security and Special Branch were alerted to this information around the start of the school term in September 2015.
“The school is living in fear,” the source said.
The school, which sits on nine acres of land, has a staff of 90 and roughly 900 students. MTS personnel were reduced from eight to four in the last few years. However, their complement has since gone back up following the Minister of Education’s visit.
So far, the days have been “normal” and police patrols have been continuing.
“Whenever they stop the police patrols, teachers will stop work,” said the source.
Other students have been preparing for examinations in May.
ISIS ‘student’ recruiters
Apart from the 24 students who were removed from the school since the incident happened, the source said there was another group deemed “rogue elements” who were still in the system, and said to be recruiting Form Four students.
“They have been recruiting all the time. The 24 we know of are those who were up front.
“For instance, the 16-year-old who issued the threat to the teacher was not one of them.”
The source said the situation began taking a turn for the worse and was seen more as a national security matter than an education one.
“It’s all about the money.”
In order to be taken seriously by the relevant ministries, the source said staff were forced to stop teaching.
Bullying is a main trend among the delinquent and rebellious group and while talks about gun possession were in the air last term, none was found on the compound.
However, Sunday Guardian was told three AK47s were said “to be involved” in all that is happening at the school.
Asked what was being done about these students who were turning to a life of crime, the source said they came from the primary school system that way.
“When they come to a large school such as Chaguanas North, the only thing you can do is to improve your skills.
“I hope the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of National Security do the correct thing and quick. We were sitting on a time bomb and we tried to quell it in our own way.
“This time we could not. This was the breaking point and the Isis matter has made it even more difficult and I understand that there are Isis connections at other schools, so I am paying attention.”
Heightened criminal behaviour
One day after a student was attacked inside of a toilet cubicle, CCTV footage was allegedly removed from the corridors. The source said footage is normally deleted seven days later.
When we asked who would remove the footage, the source said: “Let us just a say a member of staff.”
Sunday Guardian was told that teachers abandoned classes since November because of the daily disruptions by students engaging in violent acts.
This was after two teachers suffered burns on their bodies when students allegedly threw scratch bombs in the main office.
The male and female teachers were unable to make official police reports since it would have been difficult to prove which student threw the scratch bomb.
However, the teachers could have sought redress by pursuing legal action against their employer, the Ministry of Education, which they did not do.
“Teachers are genuinely scared.
“If the ministry did not step in when it did in February, they would have started using up their days to avoid being on the compound.
“Students’ violent behaviour went up a notch. This is now criminal activity. They have moved up.”
The source said, last year the school had 750 suspensions while in 2005, there were around 60.
On Carnival Friday, a female student suffered a “buss” head as a result of a stone-throwing war between the Chaguanas North and South schools.
Last year, a student suffered a broken nose and received a gash when the “Isis group of students” thought the student made a report against them.
Dillon could not be reached for comment
Efforts to reach Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon on his mobile proved futile.