Prank gets class suspended

PARENTS of 24 Guaico Secondary School students are upset after their children were suspended for a week. Speaking to one of the parents, Newsday was told they were suspended over some confusion over a faulty teacher’s desk, on which a teacher almost fell.

The teachers are claiming that students planned to prank an unsuspecting teacher by setting the desk in such a way that it would fall, while the parents and the suspended students claim the desk was always faulty and the teachers were warned about the situation.

Parents told Newsday last Friday that they were called to the school via a letter from principal De La Rosa which claimed they were called to a conference.

When there, De La Rosa explained the version of the story delivered by the teachers and informed that their children were suspended for the week, and upon their return, they will have to undergo counselling and spend time at a police youth club.

A parent explained the version of the issue given by the students to Newsday in a phone conversation. Newsday was told that since the beginning of the month, the students from the form 2 class were moved to the class where form 5 students would usually use. Since then, the teacher’s desk had been faulty.

One teacher was even saved from an embarrassing moment when the students warned her not to lean on the table. Parents said students and parents were not even given a chance to speak to the teachers while at the conference. TTUTA general secretary Fitzroy Daniel said an investigation should be launched to determine whether the move to suspend the class was excessive. However he noted that investigation, if launched, would be conducted by the Ministry of Education.