Linden teachers protest escalating violence in schools

By Enid Joaquin, March 20, 2013, By KNews, Filed Under News, Source

Chairman of the Upper Demerara Teachers’ Union, Jermaine Figueira, yesterday said that more needs to be done by the relevant authorities, to urgently address the prevalent and escalating violence in schools, as it threatens both teachers and students alike.

“I say to you teachers, our coming together today symbolizes that the teachers of Region 10, are in unison, and have decided to take a stand against this frightening revelation that is plaguing many schools across this country. The time has come for us as educators to stand up, and say no more! No more to the violence in our schools, and in the homes of our students and their communities!”

Ferguson was at the time addressing teachers from all across Linden who yesterday took to the streets in a rally to protest the escalating violence in schools and in particular to strongly condemn the recent attack on one of their colleagues, who suffered severe trauma, after she was hit in the head by a trap that was reportedly set by three students of the Wisburg Secondary School.

Among those who attended in a show of solidarity with the teachers were Chairman of Region 10 Sharma Solomon, and APNU Member of Parliament, Vanessa Kissoon, who is also a teacher by profession.

Several onlookers applauded the teachers for taking a stand, and one woman pointed out that every day teachers go to school, their life is under threat.
“Parents need to start teaching their children to be respectful and to realize that the teachers are placed in the schools to help them, and so they ought to be working with the teachers not against them.

These teachers are already set for life, they have their education and their career, and these children have to realize that without the teachers they will be nowhere, because who will teach them?”

President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Colin Bynoe, in alluding to the ever escalating violence in schools, pointed to a situation where he had gone to a school where he had observed a poster that prominently posted the rights of the child, and right next to it another poster that said what time teachers should come to school.

Bynoe said that he wanted to tear down the poster, and emphasised, “If we in this country are going to continually remind children of their rights and don’t link it with their responsibilities, we will continue to have problems, as we are having presently”.

He added that the environment in which teachers work is not conducive to learning.
“We need to understand that what is happening in the school system today is a microcosm of what’s happening in the society. Parents today have been battered and bruised to the extent that they have no work, and so some children, when they get up in the mornings, they have to be mother and father and prepare themselves to go to school.

Bynoe said that “if we (teachers) want to ensure that our environment is safe, then we have to take up some of the slack”.

He pledged that the Guyana Teachers Union will continue to stand behind teachers, and as such he exhorted them to always stand up for their rights – to be their ‘brother’s keeper’.

Bynoe said that he will continue to insist that the Ministry of Education takes care of all the injured teacher’s medical bills, and that she gets other financial assistance.

He made a number of suggestions, including the installation of counseling and guidance departments in all secondary schools.

He also urged officials of the Ministry to go out into the community and start sharing parenting skills, and remind parents of their responsibilities;  he also exhorted that all incidents of violence be dealt with by the Ministry immediately, and that the police should deal with such incidents “immediately, appropriately and condignly”.

Bynoe said that he was ‘mad’ about what had happened to the teacher, who at present can hardly smile, because of the excruciating pain she would feel in doing so.

“So I’m proud of what you did here today, because we must be heard, changes must come, because somebody in authority must hear. You are in charge, and you must take charge. Keep on, keeping on – I’m not telling you anything bad, just read between the lines.”

Meanwhile, the woman’s reputed husband Rawle Johnson, said Michelle Richards, who is the mother of his  one-year-old child, has been severely traumatized by the incident, and has since been unable to work. Johnson said that the incident occurred over a month ago, and has caused him to spend in excess of $100,000 for CT scans and other medical expenses.

He complained that after the incident, a relative of one of the students involved in the incident, went to his house and ‘cussed him out’, telling him that he wanted compensation, but the man said it was not about money, because no amount of money can undo the damage done to his reputed wife.
He however expressed gratitude for the financial assistance they received from the Guyana Teacher’s Union.