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  • 2 years ago
It's just over three months since seven St. Anthony's College students were expelled from the school. Well, at least one of them is unable to get an education. The mother of Nevan Dewan claims that since the expulsion, educational institutions are refusing to take her son, and a recommendation from the Education Ministry to MiLAT has not resulted in the teen being admitted into the programme.


Alicia Boucher has the story.
Transcript
00:00 Nivan Dewan was one of the first cohort of students who navigated the online learning
00:05 space during the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:07 He sat the secondary entrance assessment in 2020 and passed for his first choice, St.
00:13 Anthony's College.
00:14 The jubilation that his family felt came to an end in November 2023, when Nivan and six
00:21 other students were suspended and subsequently expelled from school for a fight caught on
00:26 camera in which another student was brutally beaten, spawning a police investigation with
00:32 criminal implications that is still underway.
00:36 His mother Rajmati Dewan says it was the first time that her son was ever suspended and the
00:42 expulsion letter given to them by the principal came as a surprise.
00:46 When Nivan asked and he stood up for himself and he asked, "Sir, what am I being expelled
00:51 for?
00:52 I was not a part of the fight."
00:54 And they started listing a lot of stuff that they said was happening in school.
00:58 Now, boys will be boys, right?
01:01 Yes, maybe he, I'm not saying my child is perfect.
01:04 Yes, he may have done things, but he was not a part of the fight and he was expelled because
01:08 of the fight.
01:09 The document they gave me is because of the fight.
01:13 While she has never seen the viral video, she claims Nivan's statement to police was
01:17 relayed to her as being factual.
01:19 He did try to throw a cheap blow and did not.
01:23 He got a lash and he came out.
01:24 They said that that was the correct thing.
01:27 In November 2023, the Education Ministry made a recommendation for Nivan, who was 15 at
01:33 the time, to be enrolled in the MILAD program.
01:36 After they expelled him, they were promoting MILAD.
01:38 Everything was about MILAD after that.
01:40 "Ma'am, you're going to receive a call in January, the opening in January from MILAD
01:46 and your son, you can go and enroll your son there.
01:48 Your son is going to be enrolled in MILAD."
01:50 This is now February 27th and I haven't received any call.
01:54 We even went to MILAD and drop off an application personally as well and still no response.
02:05 The frustration is compounded as Nivan tells us she is unable to afford private education,
02:10 but she previously tried to see if she could get her son to sign up with other educational
02:15 institutions only to be met with excuses.
02:19 So I'll have to talk to the admins and see what happens.
02:21 We'll get back to you.
02:22 Well, ma'am, we're not supposed to take, we were told not to take the St. Anthony students.
02:29 Ministry has other plans for them.
02:32 That's the kind of stuff that you're getting.
02:34 Some people are saying that they're going to get back to me and I have it.
02:36 Nobody calling back.
02:38 Nobody's accepting the child.
02:40 Nivan has just turned 16 and his mother feels as though his life is being wasted for what
02:45 she maintains is a wrongful expulsion.
02:48 Technically, what ministry has done, this is what I feel as a parent, a hurting parent,
02:53 that they throw my child out of school and tell him, okay, go out there and pick up a
02:57 gun and start killing and rob people because you're no good for the school system.
03:03 But she is concerned that without an education, he'll become a statistic.
03:08 If I don't keep an eye on my son, I just might lose my son and I'm not ready to lose my son
03:13 as yet.
03:14 And I'm being honest with you, Nivan has shown me certain angles because of this whole situation.
03:21 Dewan states that Nivan is regretful and expresses sentiments that he wishes he could get a second
03:27 chance to do things over differently.
03:30 You look emotional right now.
03:31 What are you thinking?
03:33 It's very hard.
03:34 It's very hard.
03:35 My son needs to go to school.
03:37 He's a young boy.
03:39 And I mean, I came from a background where my parents couldn't afford to send me to school.
03:47 My home was broken from a child and we tried.
03:50 We all tried.
03:52 She's making a plea to the education ministry.
03:55 I would like Ministry of Education to review Nivan's profile, go back to the police and
04:02 get the proper report because a proper investigation is not finished and completed as yet in this
04:07 matter.
04:08 I am not one of the boys that hit that boy and brutally beat him.
04:13 And if it is, if for some strange reason this decision to expel my son could be reverted
04:20 and he could be put back into the school system, I'll do my utmost best as a single parent
04:26 to make sure that Nivan finish school and make us proud.
04:31 TV6 News contacted Minister of Education Dr. Nian Gadsby-Dawley, who referred us to the
04:36 Ministry of Youth Development and National Service concerning the MILAT enrollment.
04:42 Calls and messages to Minister Foster Cummings were unanswered up to news time.
04:47 Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
04:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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