Education minister says students caught in acts of indiscipline must receive assistance
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Contact: Shannon Lebourne
Wednesday, March 31, 2010 – Education Minister Honourable Arsene James says government is very concerned about recent developments in the education system regarding the conduct of some students.
His statement follows the circulation of amateur videos on the internet where students in school uniform engaged in sexual activities-one of the scenes were filmed on the school compound.
Minister James says the main priority of school officials at this time is to protect the interest and future of the students who engage in such activity.
“When we look at the situation we noticed that the students who are engaged in that sought of behaviour have a problem and there are some issues which needs to be addressed. Although we have a counselling system, we are trying to have good counsellors in all schools to work with those students because we believe their actions are not normal.”
Minister James says education officials are exploring several proposals to prevent a recurrence of sexual activity within the school system.
He says authorities are very concerned about the use of modern technology like cell phones and are working to implement a system to control their use during school hours.
“Some people have been talking about banning cell phones in schools. However, we have not taken that decision yet but if this is something we have to do then we will do it. We must be able to control the use of cell phones within the school system and that is very important. We understand that it is modern-day technology and everybody has use for a cell phone. We cannot say to students they cannot have a cell phone; what we can do is to control its use at school and if that doesn't work then we will have to consider banning.”
Minister James has also called for an improvement in parent teacher and parent students relations to address the problem of sexual activity at schools.
He says authorities will engage all stakeholders in discussions to come up with the best solution. |
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