A teacher at Frederick Smith Secondary School in Trents, St James, was hospitalised on Thursday after being struck in the head with a rock by a student—the second violent assault on staff at the school in as many weeks.
The situation prompted urgent calls for reform from teachers’ unions and reigniting national debate on school safety.
The Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) and the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) responded swiftly to the latest attack, joining school staff on site to hold emergency meetings with the principal and ministry officials. Union leaders expressed outrage, citing a growing climate of fear among teachers and a string of unaddressed violent episodes affecting educational institutions across the island.
The teacher injured in Thursday’s attack sought medical attention after experiencing dizziness and general unwellness. According to BSTU President Mary-Anne Redman, the union member also visited the police station to file a report, consistent with the union’s advice for teachers to pursue charges in cases of physical violence.
“We are emphasising to our members that when there’s any violence against them, they are to report the children and to say that they want the children charged,” she said.
Redman disclosed that just over two weeks ago, another BSTU member at the same school was struck with a bottle, causing liquid to splash into her eye. She is still receiving medical treatment.
“It is very worrisome to us,” said Redman. “This is a situation that is complex. It is the schools as microcosms of the wider society . . . . These children are inundated with violence. They see it, they hear it, they practise what they’re seeing.”
In an ironic twist, the incident occurred less than 24 hours after Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman publicly denounced school violence and affirmed the ministry’s commitment to zero tolerance.
“Violence in schools is unacceptable, and I want to make it abundantly clear that the Ministry of Educational Transformation has a zero-tolerance policy towards this state of affairs,” Blackman said in a statement issued on Wednesday, following a series of student-teacher violence at several schools recently. “Our nation’s teachers must never, and I repeat, never be threatened, attacked or made to feel unsafe whilst doing their job.”
Redman confirmed that a teacher was hit in the back of the head with a rock.
“This is the second such incident where a teacher has been struck with a missile by a student. So we came immediately to speak with the staff, who voiced deep concern over the unsafe conditions that they are experiencing. They feel very threatened in the workplace, and they expressed that very openly to us,” she said.
Teachers demanded the principal meet immediately with students to reinforce a zero-tolerance policy against violence, she added.
Redman said: “The teachers decided . . . they would sit under the tree and remove themselves from the hall area while the assembly was going on. They felt that this is something that the principal needed to handle with the students by himself to reinforce the seriousness of the situation.”
Current disciplinary systems are ineffective, she declared, adding that teachers are no longer willing to tolerate threats to their personal safety.
She said: “Across the system, teachers have reached their boiling point. They are not willing to sit down and take threats to their well-being and their lives lightly . . . . Until we start holding parents accountable, nothing fundamental is going to change.”
Julian Pierre, the BUT’s first vice-president and chairman of the health and safety committee, confirmed that Thursday’s assault was not an isolated event.
“The BUT has been made aware of the situation . . . where a teacher was struck by a student,” Pierre said. “Since that time, there have been four separate incidents at the school—students on students.”
He emphasised that teachers across the country are living with a sense of fear and unpredictability.
“No one wants to come to work to be fearful. Everyone assumes that we will have a safe day at work. For some of us, however, it is a luck and chance situation—and it shouldn’t be,” he said.
“The teachers of the Frederick Smith Secondary School are frustrated. They are fed up. They think enough is enough. There must be some firm intervention.”
Adding to the chorus of concerns was BSTU’s third vice-president, Leslie Lett Jr, who linked indiscipline to inconsistent enforcement of the national grooming policy.
“It needs to be properly policed and clarified,” Lett said. “Because people have interpreted, with the lack of clarity, what it means . . . and they have operated to suit. So it has contributed to the lack of stability and discipline.”
He added: “Teachers now have to . . . spend so much time dealing with matters related to how children are dressed. And they feel that because they’re dressed in a certain way, they behave in a certain way . . . . Yes, clarification and enforcement. That’s very important to note.”
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
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