Teachers of the Golden Lane Government Primary School have had enough as they stayed away from classes due to a troubled child at the school, who has choked, slapped and threatened the student population.
On Thursday in solidarity all eleven teachers stayed away from classes leaving students unattended. Elizabeth Williams visited the school and has this report.
00:00Students were observed playing in the schoolyard unattended as teachers refused to report for duty on Thursday at the Golden Lane Government Primary School in fear for their lives.
00:12Tutor Tobago Officer Brayden Roberts said the issues affecting the school have been longstanding.
00:18Based on some information on the ground about a particular child who has been making life at the school uneasy, I am aware of that.
00:28We recently had this situation at RC School but there are other schools as well. So at the primary level we are having high levels of indiscipline.
00:37Mr Roberts said teachers attached to the school have complained of the issues with the 13-year-old boy being uncontrollable and confrontational over time without the situation being addressed.
00:49A teacher was slapped by the student, another student choked by the same child and the school population threatened.
00:57At some classes the doors are locked to protect the students and teachers.
01:02I know that the teachers have been complaining about the lack of support regarding this one individual at the school that makes life a little bit uneasy when they are in the compound.
01:15It's very erratic behaviour at times where life is threatened. There are fights in between times. There are threats that the young man would meet just like the previous report.
01:28Mr Roberts is calling on the Division of Education to do better. TV6 News learnt the matter is before the court.
01:34The student support services of the Division of Education, the Children's Authority and to date the outbursts by the male student have gotten worse.
01:44I know nationally we don't have things in place for primary school students who are not behaving but that's the power of the THAD. We have authority to manage things as they go.
01:54So we need to see, even if the funding is not there, how we engage stakeholders to deal with students with deviant behaviour.
02:02And we are reaping the multiplied effects when these children enter secondary school.
02:08The teenager was in school up to Wednesday. TV6 contacted officials of the Division of Education and we are awaiting a response.
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