Teachers at St. Gabriel’s Primary School have dispatched a letter to the Ministry of Education calling for an immediate security boost at the school following Tuesday’s incident when a cutlass-wielding man stormed the Oronoque Street school in search of a male teacher.
Yesterday a senior staff member of the school said teachers and parents share similar concerns and are still fearful of what could happen if the situation is not addressed promptly. She then disclosed that the school has since written the ministry on the matter calling for tighter security measures to be put in place.
She noted, too, that the school’s head has had discussions about the incident with top ministry officials and though a previous undertaking had been given that an official of the ministry would visit the school up to yesterday afternoon there has been no such visit. But the teaching body remains optimistic.
And police are yet to arrest the cutlass-wielding man and another accomplice who is alleged to have been carrying a gun. Reports are that the man with the cutlass was asked to leave the school compound by a male teacher and later returned with a cutlass which he swung recklessly as he went in search of the teacher. He fled the school minutes before police arrived.
The child who was injured as a result of the man’s actions was doing okay yesterday and back at school. The child’s parents have since indicated their intention to lodge a report at the police station.
Recalling what happened yesterday based on what she knows the staff member said that when the man was asked to leave the compound on Tuesday morning by the male teacher he rushed out in such a hurry they suspected he was going to be back but did not know what to do at the time.
She said many of the teachers were waiting in fear as they suspected the man would have stormed back. According to her, while some teachers focused on calming the children others were visibly scared.
The woman said security is now a serious issue and they have called an emergency Parent Teachers Association meeting for today at 4:30 pm to discuss the situation and the way forward.
Yesterday the atmosphere at the school was far from normal. Many parents collected their children at midday and most of the students were still tense over the incident. This, the staff member said, is what is most troubling.
