Ministers speak on child abuse

MINISTER of State in the Education Ministry Dr Lovell Francis said on Tuesday that child abuse can be a matter of life or death. He made this comment at the launch of a child protection workshop and a child abuse workbook at Couva West Secondary School.

The workbook was created through an initiative between the Office of the Prime Minister’s (OPM) Gender and Children’s Affairs Division and Unicef. Francis told the gathering that he became a primary school teacher in 1994 and it was the “best job,” he ever had.

He recalled there was a student in his class who interrupted a lesson to tell him, “Sir, if you beat me, I will kill myself.” Francis said the student was confused when he told him he would not beat him. The minister said he did not believe that approach would have been helpful. Francis disclosed that 20 years later, that same student was murdered when he tried to save his sister who was in an abusive relationship. He said children who are victims of abuse are often silent until something happens to bring out the symptoms of that abuse. Francis later told reporters it was difficult to say how many of those children were in the school system. “Any instance of child abuse is an alarming concern,” he said.

Minister of State in the OPM, Ayanna Webster-Roy, disclosed she was suspended from secondary school for three days for fighting. Describing that period in her life as a challenging one, Webster-Roy said the person who helped her then was her school guidance counsellor. A government minister, elected parliamentarian and a mother, Webster-Roy said today she is “a changed person.” She told the students in the audience, school guidance officers and social workers can help them deal with issues they are facing.

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