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  • 2 weeks ago


The National Parent Teachers Association is raising the alarm over the continued violence erupting in the nation's schools, and the disturbing circulation of these incidents across social media. Despite government's initiative to place police officers on school compounds, the Association says the attacks are not slowing down.

Nicole M Romany has the details.
Transcript
00:00President of the National Parent Teachers Association, Walter Stewart, says that while
00:05violent confrontations may not be happening every single day, the intensity of the aggression in
00:12schools is deeply alarming. He says the ongoing fights, even with police officers now stationed
00:19on the compounds, show that the core issues remain untouched and that the system must act
00:26urgently to address the root causes. We regard the introduction to police officers as a plaster on
00:35the soil, symptom beast, really. And the only way that we can drastically reduce what is taking place
00:42in our schools is to look and identify the source. Where is all this coming from? What is causing all
00:49this in our schools? So that whilst this, and of course we endorsed the introduction to police officers,
00:55whilst we endorsed the program, it needs to go and delve deeper into the formative years of the
01:02child's educational journey. That is where we need to start. Stewart stresses that parents must become
01:09active and consistent participants in their children's academic lives. The NPTA head reveals
01:16that the association has formally asked the government to make it mandatory for employers to grant time off
01:24when parents are required to attend PTA meetings, arguing that parental involvement is a critical
01:31intervention capable of shifting the entire trajectory of a child's future. He tells the morning edition
01:38that an intensified law enforcement presence around school compounds is urgently required, as students
01:45are routinely observed congregating aimlessly before and after the school day, creating an unsafe environment
01:53and heightening the potential for violent confrontations. Going back to the drawing board, sitting down again with
02:00Sopu, through of course the DCP or whoever is in charge, and be able to probably redirect your resources,
02:07your human resources as well. Involve a few other schools, look at additional street patrols as well, because I tell you,
02:16even before schools are cold in the morning, we have information where students are loitering in and around
02:23our streets. Post-dismissal of schools as well on afternoon, students are in their school uniforms 9pm as well.
02:29The association president tells us there are stark statistics revealing the number of suspensions and expulsions
02:37recorded in schools over the past several years, including this current academic year.
02:43The stats indicate that during the period 2022, just post-COVID, April 22, well, present 2025, there were 21,000 suspensions in our schools.
02:54That's a horrible figure. It's almost 180 per week. If you look at the instructional weeks in our schools,
03:0139 instructional weeks, and of course, this is deplorable. So that once we do have, again, the hard data as per this
03:07term in particular, but again, based upon information reaching us, there has been a slight reduction in
03:14infractions taking place in our schools, which require suspensions, expulsions, etc.
03:19Stuart says, while this is welcoming, the association wants to see a greater improvement and rapidity, with a reduction in these incidents.
03:29Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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