Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 06/Sep 07:54

NPTA warns against armed officers at schools

PRESIDENT of the National Parent Teachers Association Walter Stewart has expressed concerns about officers armed with guns being present in certain secondary and primary schools. Stewart told Newsday, “This sends a worrying message and signals the perception that our students are criminals. This reflects negatively and throws a damper on not only the school climate, but can also cause untold anxiety, thereby disrupting the students’ focus and attention on learning. Stewart said there haD been no history of gun violence in TT’s schools to warrant the introduction of armed officers. “This act appears to be an overreach and overreaction. This unnecessary measure can result in more harm than good.” However, he did not condemn the police presence initiative. “According to the reports disclosed by the ministry, there were over 21,000 suspensions from 2022 to 2025. This, coupled with the social media coverage of escalating school indiscipline and violence over the last academic year in particular, is what has convinced the association to concur with the Ministry of Education to introduce the deployment of police officers in certain designated schools. He said the presence of police officers, however, should act as a deterrent to misbehaviour and provide an additional layer of support for the safety and security of students and teachers. “This initiative should, however, be temporary as measures should be implemented and stringently monitored to ensure that the national school code of conduct and other disciplinary mechanisms are strengthened.” Dowlath: Some cops will have guns Although during the post-cabinet media conference on September 4, Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander said the officers would not be armed, Education Minister Dr Michael Dowlath, on September 5, clarified that some officers would have guns. “As we indicated yesterday, officers will be in their full kits. Some of their kits will have lethal and some will have non-lethal weapons depending on the police assessment of the risk of the school and the environment,” he said during the recognition ceremony granting government-assisted status to Longdenville Sathya Sai Primary School on September 5. [caption id="attachment_1176368" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Dr Michael Dowlath -[/caption] Newsday was unable to reach Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro for comment. Deputy Commissioner of Police of Operations Junior Benjamin, who is the liaison officer for the programme, on September 5 confirmed that some officers would be armed with guns in schools based on the level of violence at the institution and the crime situation in the community. “When persons come, we cannot tell if they would be armed or not and we want to ensure that we protect the students, the teachers and visitors in the schools. We want to ensure that at all times our officers are equipped to deal with any untoward situation.” He said the police service graduated field officers and the 95 special reserve officers who would be stationed at the schools from the training programme on September 5. He said they were trained in de-escalation, the Children’s Act and the Judges Rules. Dowlath later told Newsday the 50 high-risk schools at which police would be stationed were selected through a structured assessment that considered several factors. “These included documented patterns of indiscipline and violent incidents within the school environment, reports of threats from external influences impacting the safety of students and staff and data and recommendations provided by the TTPS (TT Police Service) and the Ministry’s Student Support Services Division.” Dowlath said in countries including the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom, police officers are assigned to schools in full operational kit. “This is not only to deter potential threats but also to reassure parents, teachers, and students that their safety is paramount. TT is adopting a similar model, tailored to our national context, with officers trained to balance their law-enforcement responsibilities with an understanding of the school environment. “Equally, this initiative aligns with the ministry’s fundamental philosophical position that a safe and secure environment is a non-negotiable prerequisite for effective teaching and learning. Without security, the potential for academic achievement and student development is severely undermined. The presence of officers therefore represents more than just a response to incidents, it is a proactive safeguard for learning.” Dowlath said the role of police officers would also extend beyond the school compound to the external environment. “This integrated approach ensures that principals are not left to shoulder the full weight of responsibility for external threats, but are backed by the trained expertise and authority of the police in creating a safe passage for students and staff.” Dowlath said although he appreciated the media’s interest, releasing the full list could lead to further stigmatisation of the institutions. “What is most important for the public to know is that this programme has been carefully designed in partnership with the police to protect our nation’s children and will be continually monitored and refined to ensure its effectiveness.” Dowlath said he met with stakeholders of some of the 50 schools designated as high-risk earlier on September 5 to address the protocols for the police officers’ presence. He said principals, the National Parent Teacher’s Association and the TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) had been consulted. “We have all stakeholders on board, but as it evolves, we have them together with us, giving a 360 view of what’s happening in schools.” Principals: Caution, clear guidelines needed Although welcoming the initiative of police intervention in schools, president of the Secondary School’s Principals Association Sharlene Hicks-Reaburn, said the use of armed officers needed to be executed with caution and clear guidelines. “We hope that we would not have a situation where something like that would be required.” She said she hoped the officers would be well-trained in dealing with children and that support for high-risk schools would be extended beyond school to deal with the issue of children loitering and engaging in risky behaviour after school hours. [caption id="attachment_1176369" align="alignnone" width="687"] Junior Benjamin -[/caption] Although welcoming the intervention, one Arima secondary school teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, strongly condemned the use of guns by officers. He said in his over two decades of teaching experience, he had seen firsthand how school conflicts could escalate if weapons were present. But he did not dismiss the idea of a police presence entirely. He said while teaching at schools that might now be considered high-risk, the intervention of police made a positive impact on school discipline in a system where teachers were bound by the Education Ministry’s discipline matrix. “The way the discipline matrix is structured, it takes way too long for any sort of disciplinary action to be escalated to the point where it could make a difference, and that leaves teachers and administration vulnerable, and students and parents are aware of this. “But the police are not bound by the system, so they can part fight and hold students…it has been my experience for the better part of the last 15 years, that’s the only time you see improvement, because they are not bound by the matrix.” The teacher said the ministry guidelines provided for a three-strike system, but all strikes must come under the same offence for the situation to be escalated to the ministry. ​“Let’s say a student is caught smoking a cigarette and the principal decides to suspend them, the guidelines state that you need to have a parent-teacher conference and give the student a warning and it be recorded as a first offence. “But if the very next day the student is caught vaping, that’s a first offence in vaping. And if the next day the student is caught fighting, that counts as a first offence in fighting. So this student has three offences but all are first offences. “And teachers would recongnise that there’s a pattern of behaviour, but in the time it takes for a student to reach three of the same offences, the damage is already done. By the time this reaches the student support services, the guidance officers and social workers, it’s usually about three to four months down the line…and I’ve seen it dozens of times. A child could spiral completely out of control in three months. So having more guidance officers is lovely but if nothing is done about the discipline matrix, teachers and admin remain completely handicapped.” And although supporting the intervention of police, he said it is not a permanent solution and said only a reform to the current discipline system could see true results. (With reporting by Rishard Khan)   The post NPTA warns against armed officers at schools appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.