Port Glaud primary teachers go on strike |23 November 2023
The teachers during their strike
Demand respect and safe working environment
By Patsy Canaya
The Ministry of Education said it will get to the bottom of an incident that occurred at Port Glaud primary school on Monday this week, where a Primary 5 (P5) pupil was allegedly assaulted by the school’s head teacher.
This came after photos of the boy’s beat up face went viral on Monday evening, with the parent claiming her son was assaulted.
Yesterday the incident took a new turn with teachers of Port Glaud primary school refusing to work, claiming the parent was not telling the whole truth and the child allegedly had abusive behaviour, which made it difficult to manage him at school.
The teachers rallied outside the school’s gate before 7am, with banners calling for respect, a stop to violence and abuse against them.
The child’s class teacher, Flossia Boniface, told the media that the pupil in question has been reported on several occasions and his behaviour noted in the classroom’s log book. However, he was generally “defiant of authority”, and the anti-social behaviour would persist.
“I am here today to say enough is enough because I do not want him to terrorise the entire school,” she said. Although he was already undergoing counselling, she felt he needed additional help and should not be around other children.
The teachers were joined by a group of parents who said they stood in solidarity with the school’s management, which was doing a good job, but whose reputation was being tarnished by the parent. Some of them claimed the child in question had aggressed their child physically or verbally. One parent said she reported the boy two weeks ago after he assaulted her daughter and was now awaiting the school’s feedback before she can pursue with her case.
It should be noted that three officers from the education ministry headquarters arrived at the school at 8.55am to talk to the teachers and invite them inside for a dialogue. However the teachers refused to budge. A similar call from their head teacher, Marcella Belle, also fell on deaf ears.
The teachers ceased their protest and agreed to talk only when education minister, Dr Justin Valentin, arrived on site. The two sides had nearly an hour of discussion behind closed doors.
Speaking to the media after the discussion, Ronny Rideau, the chairperson of the school’s council, said their main demand was for the ministry to consider suspending the child until the whole matter was fully investigated. The matter was discussed lengthily at a meeting on Tuesday.
“We cannot just accept him back into the school as if nothing has happened. So we want the ministry to consider our request to suspend him until a thorough investigation is completed”.
After meeting with the teachers, Minister Valentin spoke to the local media where he reiterated that his ministry condemns all forms of violence, be it against teachers or students.
He said his trip to the school was to ensure the teachers resume duties and reassure both the teachers and the pupils that the ministry was on their side to ensure they had the best environment to work and learn, respectively.
Dr Valentin also said his ministry understood the parents and was also on their side.
“The ministry is supporting all its partners but when an incident occurs we have to find out exactly what happened. We will not abandon anyone, but rather work with all the affected parties to ensure everybody is protected,” said the minister.
He said their next step would be to establish all protocols. “A protocol for teachers and protocol for pupils. Because we want to see a solution. And of course there will be actions once all evidence/proof have been established in relation to the incident.”
He also called on teachers to use the structures in place to report any incident that may occur at their schools, promptly. “It is the ministry’s responsibility to protect its teachers and pupils and all staff in the ministry,” said Dr Valentin.
Since the matter was being investigated by the police, the minister said he would not be commenting further on the incident. It should be noted that the head teacher gave her statement to the police yesterday morning. The case is being investigated by the police and the pupil has been suspended.
Port Glaud primary school has 45 staff.
During yesterday’s incident some parents opted to take their child home.
