Five psychosocial workshops have been held to train teachers from 21 East Coast schools and participants in Bartica to be first responders to children in times of crisis.

According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release Minister within the Ministry of Education Dr Desrey Fox on Monday updated the media on the interventions in schools following the killings at Lusignan and Bartica. More than 140 teachers have been trained from the two communities in five three-day sessions.

The ministry had collaborated with the health and human services ministries, the University of Guyana (UG), the Guyana Red Cross Society and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) to conduct workshops to boost teachers’ and schools welfare officers’ capacity to respond to children in crisis. Fox said this decision was made after awareness consultations were held with teachers from East Coast Demerara following the January 26 murders at Lusignan. The consultations revealed that in addition to the students, teachers and parents in those communities were in need of psychosocial care. …..