Garcia: No bullying at Point school

Education Minister Anthony Garcia
 PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB
Education Minister Anthony Garcia PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB

EDUCATION Minister Anthony Garcia on Friday said reports of bullying at Point Fortin RC Primary School are false. Speaking in the Senate, Garcia said investigations determined that, “two pupils were swinging on a road sign which fell on one of the pupils and sustained an injury to the head.”

The minister added this was an accident.

He scolded Opposition Senator Taharqa Obika for insisting the incident involved bullying.

“I don’t know whether he was listening to me,” Garcia told Senate President Christine Kangaloo. He then told Obika, “You need to listen before you open your mouth.”

Kangaloo subsequently reminded senators to be “very careful” when she makes a ruling and subsequent pronouncements on that ruling.

Garcia also reported that repair work will begin on a defective sewer system at Egypt Government Primary School in Point Fortin, “within the month.” There were complaints about asbestos after an abandoned government building nearby, caught fire last December, Garcia said.

The building, he continued, was covered with asbestos sheeting. While the burnt sheeting can pose a hazard to the school population, Garcia said the student are not in immediate danger.

Explaining that the asbestos cannot be removed by amateurs, Garcia indicated the ministry and the Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL) are working together to remove the asbestos from the site.

Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister Ayanna Webster-Roy said the Children’s Authority is providing counselling for a 16-year-old child who was abused by being forced to sleep outdoors.

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"Garcia: No bullying at Point school"

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