SCHOOL VIOLENCE MUST STOP
By Mr. Trevor Oliver, TTUTA President

Escalating violence in the wider society has spilled over to the precincts of our schools. Because of indiscipline and violence in some of the nations schools, many students are deprived of quality education. This will, of course, impact negatively on them if corrective and preemptive measures to deal with these phenomena are not put in place.

The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers' Association has been constantly calling on the Ministry of Education to ensure that the School Intervention Strategies programme (SIS) is properly planned, marketed implemented and evaluated. Our cries appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Although the mechanisms which can deal effectively with the situation exist, they are not being utilized for maximum effectiveness. TTUTA has therefore embarked on an initiative to help bring peace and tranquility to all the nation's schools. Towards this end we met with members of the Principals' Association of both primary and secondary schools. We discussed a list of proposals mainly drawn from the School Intervention Strategies Programme (SIS) and we emerged with consensus as to the priority areas for immediate implementation.

STUDENT INVOLVEMENT

If we are to solve this ugly problem the input of student is very important, and so many of the proposals focus on student involvement. We recommend that in the development of a Code of Conduct for students, they must be active participants so that they will be more inclined to abide by the principles of a document which they assist in shaping. The discussions involved in the development of such a document will also help keep the school community focused on a well organized disciplined environment. We also strongly suggest that all schools should have student councils because if the legitimate voice of the student is given a hearing deviant and criminal activities may be preempted. The question of rehabilitation and humanitarian treatment runs like a thread throughout the list of proposals because we recognise our students as our precious human resources with potential to be developed. We therefore emphasize development rather than punishment. ZERO TOLERANCE FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY Despite our humanitarian and rehabilitative thrust, there must be zero tolerance for criminal activity. Criminal activity is not the same as school deviance. Physical assaults, wounding and the peddling of prohibited drugs are all cases of criminal activities. In these cases the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary must act expeditiously. We cannot allow the action of a few to hamper the education progress of many. We cannot allow a few to put the lives and limbs of hundreds of others at risk. Criminal activity of any kind must get the zero treatment whether it involves student, parent or intruder.

OUT OF SCHOOL SUSPENSION

Persistent deviance can lead to suspension. Constructive out of school suspension is what we recommend. The suspended child will be taken to a centre by his or her parents and will be placed in a rehabilitative environment with an organized programme of all-round development. This is a far cry from the type of suspension which simply involves sending the child home in an unsupervised environment to return to school worse than when the suspension took place. Constructive suspension will effectively deal with the development aspects of education.

The comprehensive list of proposals are presented for your examination and involves such important issues as:

(a) the prompt filling of vacancies.
(b) Organized supervision of students.
(c) Adequacy of security arrangements.
(d) Curriculum issues.

If the Ministry works together with TTUTA and other stakeholders in education on these proposals, we can all stem the tide of violence and indiscipline and usher in a culture of peace in the nation's schools.