The Parent/Teachers Associa-tion of St. Gabriel’s Primary has decided that parents will keep their children home until several conditions including 24-hour security are met.
Since Tuesday’s incident when a young man stormed the school armed with a cutlass in search of a teacher, no Ministry official has visited the school to discuss security measures with the teachers who have all since expressed concerns over the incident.
Yesterday many students were absent from classes and this is likely to continue on Monday. Teachers at the school are in support of the PTA’s decision.
When contacted on the issue yesterday afternoon Head of Georgetown Schools, Nasrullah Khan said he was not aware that the school was on an unofficial shutdown. He said the Ministry was not informed.
A letter was dispatched to the Ministry yesterday outlining the demands of the PTA and informing officials of the decision to keep children home. Khan said he had not seen the letter but later amended this by saying it had reached his Ministry late.
He declined to comment on the situation at St. Gabriel’s except to say that he had written a report and passed it on to the Minister of Education and the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry. Khan noted that he was not in a position to comment on the unofficial shutdown since he had not seen the letter. According to him, the contents of the letter would be dealt with on Monday.
At an emergency meeting on Thursday the school’s PTA called for the school to shut down until the Ministry responds to their concerns and that of the teachers. President of the association, Henry Rodney told Stabroek News yesterday that the Ministry is showing callous disregard for the situation.
“They were alerted to the incident and details were even put into writing yet no one has bothered to show up. When telephone contact was made the treatment teachers have received is nothing short of callousness. The Ministry must realise this is a serious situation and we are not going to allow them to treat it any differently”, Rodney said.
In addition to having a security guard at the school on a 24-hour basis, the PTA is demanding that Khan apologise to the Head Teacher of the school and the staff as well. Henry would not go into details as to why he mentioned that.
When Stabroek News contacted the Education Minis-try’s Permanent Secretary’s office yesterday it was referred to the Head of Georgetown Schools. One PTA member said it appears as though the incident at St. Gabriel’s is something the Ministry wants to brush under the carpet. She said it has reached the stage where the body must take a stance given how affected students and teachers are.
Following the incident at the school on Tuesday the school dispatched a letter to the Ministry on Wednesday requesting immediate security at the school. There has been no response to the letter.
A child was injured in the incident and fear has engulfed the school ever since. The police have since charged a teenager in connection with the incident. The President of the PTA insists their main concern is the safety of the teachers and students. He said a security guard must be placed at the school, adding that the Ministry needs to engage teachers and the PTA on the issue.
