Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has condemned the latest incident of school violence, in which five students were implicated in a brutal and premeditated attack on a schoolmate. The assault, which occurred on Tuesday, 3 June 2025, took place inside a school bathroom and was filmed by bystanders.
The victim, a teenage girl, remains hospitalised with severe injuries, including a fractured nose, broken tooth, blood clots in the eyes, and multiple bruises across her body. According to reports, video footage captured three girls ambushing and beating the victim, while other students stood by and filmed. One attacker was seen delivering two forceful kicks to the victim’s face, leaving her bleeding. Clumps of her hair were later found on the bathroom floor.
“School violence, another issue again, yet again,” the Prime Minister remarked at the Post Cabinet News Conference.
She confirmed that on Wednesday, 4 June, the three attackers and their parents were summoned to the school, and the students now face suspension. “Now, I will speak to the minister after we get a full report,” she added.
Persad-Bissessar signalled an immediate shift in government policy on school violence. “I think everybody’s fed up with the daily dose of school violence. You send your children to school and you want them to be safe. Going forward, we will treat every occurrence of assault or battery as an expellable offence in schools and an arrestable offence to put before the courts.”
She issued a stern warning to both parents and students: “If your child assaults or batters another child in school, they will be expelled and will face the full brunt of the law. They will be arrested.”
While affirming the need to protect well-behaved students, the Prime Minister said her Government will also consider spaces where offending children can be “properly counselled and nurtured,” but they cannot remain in schools if they pose a threat to others.
“If someone is 15 years old and robs or assaults you, they are arrested. But if they do the same thing in a school uniform, they are getting a free pass. It doesn’t make sense that the school uniform is a licence to break the law. This must stop,” she said.
She also announced that all acts of school violence will now be referred to the police for criminal prosecution. “Parents need to take responsibility for their children’s behaviour. If they can’t train them to properly behave in school, then let them stay home. We will look for spaces to nurture and help them live in a manageable way.”
Addressing threats and attacks on educators, the Prime Minister declared: “If any parent or student assaults or threatens a principal or a teacher, that child will be expelled. We are fed up of seeing our principals and teachers abused and threatened by both students and the parents of some students. We will enforce expulsion rules to the maximum.”
She confirmed that students who film or encourage violent acts will also face consequences. “All students caught in videos cheering and clapping and egging on the violence will be suspended because they’re also participants.”
Calling for a collective response, Persad-Bissessar urged all school staff and students to report violent incidents to the police. “It is time now where every act of school violence be reported to the police and that participants face expulsion and prosecution in the courts,” she said.