Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Aujourd'hui 04:30

NPTA president calls for release police-in-schools policy

NATIONAL Council of Parent Teacher Association president Walter Stewart is calling for the Ministry of Education to release the policy which guides or governs deployment of police officers in schools. “We have been asking to see the policy document which guides this entire process, and up to now, we cannot get it. We are being told it is (still) being worked on,” Stewart said in an interview with Newsday on Wednesday. Although supporting the initiative where police will be in schools identified as being "high-risk," alongside deans of discipline, safety officers and MTS guards, Stewart questioned the implementation process. “For something as important as having schools policed to curb indiscipline and violence, the cart should not have been put before the horse. "The very first thing that had to have happened was the roll out of a policy document showing the remit, rules and functions. And then you mount the whole process. That is not happening here. It appears officers were installed without a policy document and we are very concerned about that.” Stewart said he understands the initiative was new and not foolproof, but two recent incidents highlight the need for a tighter approach. On the third day of the new term, a teacher and student of Arima North Secondary were involved in a brawl. Arima North is not among the 50 schools designated for policing – something Stewart said he found surprising given that school's's history of violence. Two days later, students of Preysal Secondary locked a policeman inside a classroom and threw away the key. One student has been suspended. Stewart believes other students were involved. Newsday was told that DCP Junior Benjamin, a liaison officer for the School Oriented Policing Unit, ACP Brian Soodeen and ASP David Guelmo of the Community Policing Unit met earlier this week to review the fledgling initiative. Attempts to reach Benjamin on Wednesday for an update were unsuccessful. Stewart also questioned the criteria used to select schools for police presence, echoing concerns raised by Fr David Khan, Vicar for Education and CEO of the Catholic Education Board of Management, who said some Catholic schools earmarked for policing, were not high-risk. “I share Fr Khan’s concern. While the criteria seems to be a reporting of violence and indiscipline, I think they (the ministry and police) need to be a little more subjective than that. Nail it down to something more definitive,” Stewart said. Education Minister Dr Michael Dowlath had earlier said several factors informed the decision to place police in schools and that an active committee is overseeing the initiative. When Newsday reached out to the minister earlier this week, he asked that a list of questions be sent to him regarding concerns about the policy and procedure. He promised to provide detailed answers. So far, his response has not been sent to Newsday. The post NPTA president calls for release police-in-schools policy appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.