Yesterday Arlene Blackman, the principal and owner of Maraval-based Blackman's Private School, appeared in a Port-of-Spain Magistrate's Court charged with certain offences under the Children's Act relating to an alleged incident at the school on January 24. The incident involves two pupils of the school, aged nine and ten. As with any other accused who has been charged and brought before the courts, Mrs Blackman unequivocally has the right to be presumed innocent of the charges that have been proffered against her, until she has been proved guilty, according to law in a public trial at which she has had all the guarantees necessary for her defence. The incident and the case have already attracted some international attention.
The case is likely to attract ongoing and intense media scrutiny given the profile of the defendant, the fact that the complainants in the case are young boys and also because this is one of the first major prosecutions to be brought by the authorities under The Children's Act, whose implementation has been the subject of some controversy. As the owner and principal of a private primary school, Mrs Blackman is someone who has invested a significant part of her professional life in moulding and grooming young children at a very impressionable stage in their lives. The thousands of Blackman's alumni performing at high levels in jobs around the world are testament to the sterling contribution that she has made to education in this country.
Given that contribution, the publicity that the case is likely to attract and the uncertain future that the pupils of the school find themselves in, it may be in Mrs Blackman's best interest to appoint someone else to run the school while she defends herself against these charges. The principle of stepping down when charges have been laid is well established for people in public life. People's National Movement chairman Franklin Khan and former PNM Energy Minister Eric Williams both resigned as soon as they were charged in 2005 in relation to claims made by Dhansam Dhansook. In Britain yesterday, Cabinet minister Chris Huhne resigned shortly after he was charged over an alleged attempt to pin a speeding penalty on his ex-wife. Huhne said he was resigning because he did not want to distract from either his official duties or from his defence of his reputation.On Thursday, Brazil's minister of cities Mario Negromonte, resigned amid allegations that he awarded public work contracts to companies that had financed his party. He denied all accusations and said his resignation in no way indicated he was guilty.
The English Football Association yesterday decided to strip the captaincy of the English football team from Chelsea defender John Terry "until the allegations against him are resolved." Those allegations involve a trial for racially abusing a competitor. In each of the cases cited above, it was decided to step down because the person had a responsibility that went above and beyond themselves: either to the party or to the Government. As the owner of the school which bears her name, Mrs Blackman answers to no one-not to a board or even directly to the Ministry of Education. She answers to no one except the parents who pay thousands of dollars in fees every term for their children to attend her school-and the children themselves. It is for the parents, in consultation with Mrs Blackman, then, to decide whether the education of the children who attend the school would be best served by the principal continuing to run the school or by the principal deciding to hand over to someone else.