As the new school term begins today, teachers at primary schools in east and central Trinidad say they fear for their safety because of gang violence and are calling for an urgent intervention by Education Minister Anthony Garcia.
At the school in east Trinidad, the teachers said they were threatened by a parent,after an 11-year-old male student slapped a 10-year-old female classmate. The man, a relative of the victim, went to the school to inquire about the incident and allegedly used obscene language at members of staff. The man, who was cautioned about his behaviour several times, threatened the teachers after accusing them of being racist.
A report was made to the Arouca Police Station and statements were taken from two teachers.However, the teachers said they fear for their safety because gang-related incidents, as well as the physical and verbal abuse they face from pupils and parents on a daily basis.
The school officials complained that Garcia has been focussing heavily on what has been occurring at secondary schools while they too are experiencing similar issues. They said while they understand that secondary school issues need to be addressed urgently, the primary schools are critical too since these students will eventually graduate to the next level.
In another recent attack at a primary school, also in East Trinidad, a ten-year-old boy was beaten up by another pupil on March 9 and the victim’s mother was physically attacked by the bully when she visited the school to find out what happened. A report was made at the St Joseph Police Station about the incident.
At the central Trinidad school, teachers expressed concern about gang activity in the surrounding area.
“The children are coming into the school and talking about who their parents, fathers and uncles are warring against. Some of them are actually pinpointing the children of warring factions in their communities and either laying down threats to each other, bullying each other, or picking fights. Some of these fights are really bad and some teachers are afraid to part them,” a teacher said.
“One of them brought a gun and was showing it off to one of his classmates. I was told by another child the next day and when I questioned the child who brought the gun, the child refused to say anything but I know that they are getting access to these weapons at their homes.
“It may belong to an older brother a father or another relative. Sometimes guns are hidden by people on behalf of its real owners and these are what the children are seeing.”
A teacher at another primary school said: “I have had one child whose father was killed and he is a completely a different child since. He curses other children in the class and abuses them in one way or another. He picks fights and threatens to shoot and kill everyone.”
T&T Unified Teachers Association first vice-president Antonia De Freitas said the union has been monitoring school violence and indiscipline in primary schools “for a very long time.”
“Just like principals and teachers in the secondary schools, those in the primary schools have been trying to deal with the issues but with limited or little success,” she said.
“I know some of the denominational boards are trying to make interventions of their own but I am yet to be told if they have been successful in their efforts.”
De Freitas said one of the major challenges is that there are no safety officers and most primary schools have private security firms rather than the trained MTS security personnel that are assigbed to secondary schools. Efforts to reach Garcia for comment were unsuccessful.