The assault of a young teacher in the Fort Wellington district has raised safety concerns for teachers across the country. The Guyana Teachers Union is warning the Ministry of Education not to wait until “someone dies” to take action against parents who assault teachers.
The young teacher who was assaulted yesterday told detectives in the district that he was assaulted and threatened by one of his students, the child’s uncle, and four men at the Fort Wellington Secondary School.
He told detectives that the attack stemmed reportedly from an incident in which the student hurled homophobic remarks at him. The student, and several others, were taken to the Principal’s office and punished.
This resulted in the student promising to return with his uncle, who eventually came with others, and began assaulting the teacher at a copy shop in proximity to the school. The matter is currently being investigated by police in the district.
However, speaking to Guyana Standard today, General Secretary of the Union Corretta McDonald expressed utter disdain at the fact that another incident has occured in which a teacher has been assaulted by an adult.
She noted that despite the calls from the union for the added security to schools across the nation, there has not been a correspondence from the Ministry of Education. McDonald said that GTU had requested a meeting with the Ministry to further discuss ways to protect teachers.
“Are we going to wait until someone dies before we take this seriously? Here we have a young man who’s decided to mold the minds of young people and he’s not only disrespected but assaulted by not only an adult but by a student. This is getting out of hand and I hope something is done quickly,” McDonald said.
She reiterated the view that school’s must have added security to prevent further instances of violence at schools. McDonald however stated that what she finds more worrying is what she claims is the Ministry’s inability to address the issue.
“Since the last incident, we expected the Ministry of Education to take serious actions to prevent this from occurring. It is sad that this has happened again. What we dont want is for people to think that they can do this and get away. They must be punished and we, the union, hope that something is done quickly,” The General Secretary said.
