Chief secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Kelvin Charles is silent on the issue involving a 10-year old child who was locked out from the St Nicholas Private Primary school, where he has been attending for the past five years.
The child is a Tobagonian, born to parents from Trinidad and India.
The incident, which occurred on September 16, is in the hands of the police and has been reported to the Indian High Commission, as the child’s father is from India.
On September 25, a pre-action protocol letter, outlining the situation, was sent to Minister of Education Anthony Garcia.
It was copied to the school’s principal, chairman of the Board of Trustees Leeray Cornwall-Harris, Schools’ Supervisors for Tobago Sherry Ann Rollocks and Karen Boatswain and the chief secretary.
Under the THA Act, the THA is responsible for the administration of education in Tobago.
The letter, written on behalf of the child’s parent by the law firm Martin George and Co letter, a copy of which was obtained by Guardian Media, said the child and parent were unlawfully, unfairly and unjustly treated.
It noted that the child was “isolated for the duration of the school day.”
It also said the boy’s mother visited the Education Division in Scarborough and met with the Schools’ Supervisor 111 Rollocks- Hackett on September 17.
She instructed her to take the child back to the school. However, the child was refused entry.
Guardian Media reached out to the private school’s chairman on the matter.
“Not all the board members are in Tobago and once they are here, we will meet and discuss the matter following the advice from the police,” Cornwall-Harris, the chairman, told Guardian Media.
Assistant Police Commissioner in charge of Tobago Vernon Roberts said: “The matter is engaging the attention of the legal officer.”
A call to the High Commissioner of India Aniruddha Das revealed that he too had heard of the situation.
“This matter has just come to our attention. It’s too early to comment,” he said.
Several attempts to contact Charles on the matter proved futile. Messages left at his office and via Whatsapp went unanswered.