TTUTA wants action as parent and son assault two teachers

Two teachers were physically assaulted by a student and his female relative at the St Joseph Government Secondary School on Monday. The attack, coming on the heels of the attempted rape of first-year student at a Central primary school last week, led to calls from T&T Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) for increased and more effective security at all public schools.

TTUTA’s first vice-president Davanand Sinanan yesterday said teachers at primary and secondary level were fed-up, adding their pleas for better security measures over the years had fallen on deaf ears. In the latest attack on Monday, a male and female teacher of the St Joseph Government Secondary, formerly the Curepe Junior Secondary School, were attacked after the student’s parent was called to the school to deal with a disciplinary complaint.

Sinanan said the teachers were summoned to the principle’s office for a meeting with the student and his parent. While the meeting was in progress, the boy’s female relative grabbed the female teacher by the collar and slapped her. The male teacher tried to intervene but the relative snatched a padlock and a clock from the principal’s desk and threw it at him.

“Luckily both teachers ducked without being hit. The force at with she pelted the padlock caused it to break in half and the padlock weighed almost half-a-kilo,” Sinanan said. He said while that was happening the student, who was described to him as “unruly” and as having a series of disciplinary complaints against him, picked up a chair to hit both teachers.The principal, however, managed to rescue the teachers and bring the situation under control.

The matter has been reported to the police and the teachers are expected to press charges. Saying this was a glaring example of the inadequacy of security guards at public schools, Sinanan called on the ministry to implement more stringent security measures.