Ministry notes safety concerns

THE Ministry of Education has acknowledged concerns expressed by members of the public, including teachers, as it pertains to the Success/Laventille Secondary School.

Concerns have been raised surrounding the physical safety of students and teachers at the school because of its location within the community.

Last week, the National Parent Teachers Association (NPTA) and teachers at the school called for it to be relocated since it is in the middle of two warring gangs, and murders and shootings are commonplace in the area where the school is located.

In response to the call, both the area’s MP Fitzgerald Hinds and Education Minister Anthony Garcia said that the school cannot and will not be relocated. Garcia said there is simply no space in other schools within Port of Spain to relocate Success Laventille’s almost 1,000 student population.

A press release from the Education Ministry on the weekend recognised that the pursuit of a quality education can be hindered if teaching and learning is compromised for fear of safety and as such the Government has decided on a whole government approach in treating with this matter.

To begin, the Ministry is continuing discussions with the Ministry of National Security surrounding augmented plans for safety of the school’s compound and wider community for the new school term.

The release pointed out that the Ministry has for some time, through the Laventille/Morvant Schools’ Improvement Project (LMSIP), began a process of changing the dialogue and building bridges between the various communities within the Laventille/Morvant area.

One of the challenges faced by many of the schools within the Laventille/Morvant area surrounds boarder issues. At the Ministry and through the Schools’ Improvement Project a focus has been placed on uniting the communities through education.

Within the last week, two sporting competitions took place where students from the twenty (20) primary and five (5) secondary schools involved in the LMSIP participated in activities that were completely successful with no issues of safety arising. This shows that there is a way to bring these communities together and it can be done through education.

“Success/Laventille is an excellent school that has been doing great work and we will do everything in our power to ensure that students are not short changed in their pursuit of education,” Minister Garcia said in the release.