Caption: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar
By Alicia Chamely
PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is promising to purge the nation’s schools of violent behaviour and prioritising the rights and protection of students who want to learn.
The prime minister said her government’s stance against school violence and bullying on Wednesday, after the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) announced that the five female students involved in an assault outside of Holy Faith Convent, Couva on June 10 had been formally charged.
On Wednesday, Persad-Bissessar stated, “There are consequences to criminal behaviour. I will prioritise the rights and protection of the majority of students who want to learn and not the minority who want to disrupt their schools with violence. I am aware that the investigation into the physical attack on a Form Five student of South East Port of Spain Secondary School is also ongoing, and I look forward to its conclusion soon.”
She said, “I remind students and parents that anyone who engages in violence, threats, intimidation, drug dealing, extortion and bullying will be charged. We will purge our schools of this behaviour by any and all means legally available. The country is fed up of this violence and wickedness in our schools and our society.”
In a press release sent on Wednesday, the TTPS stated that five female students, between the ages of 14 to 18, had been charged by W/PC Boodoo for Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm.
The charges were laid on June 25, at the Couva District Court.
The five young women were involved in a violent assault against another female victim outside of Holy Faith Convent, Couva.
Weighing in on the matter, Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro said, “Students cannot be expected to reach their full potential if they are under threat at or around their schools.
The TTPS will continue to use all available resources, and work hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders, to ensure that our nation’s schools are safe spaces for both students and teachers.”
He reaffirmed the TTPS’s commitment to school safety.
