TTUTA open to solutions to youth criminal activity

TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) general secretary Fitzroy Daniel has said the association is always open to finding ways to keep students interested in school and away from a negative life.

Daniel was responding to comments made by Prof Ramesh Deosaran on a morning programme yesterday. Deosaran said schools should review the curriculum to keep students excited about learning and away from crime. Contacted for clarification yesterday, he said, “I don’t think the schools are breeding criminals. I think what happens, some students, especially males, find themselves discomfited by the curriculum.”

Deosaran said not only schools are to be blamed, as a number of students come from difficult backgrounds.

“When you do the retroactive analysis about those young boys who have committed crimes and who are accused or either convicted, they are relatively young – between 17 and 25 – and when you ask them in the remand yard, large proportions come from single-parent homes (and) large proportions come from certain government secondary schools.

“So we need to remedy the institution, not only the individual students because the secondary-school teachers are trying very hard. There is no restraint (because of) a lot of social conditions from the home and from broken home communities.”

Deosaran said students will turn to crime when they face challenges in school.

“The crime and drug underground culture today is very attractive for young boys, and even young girls who find difficulties in schools. The education system is facing stiff competition from a parallel culture.” He also said the communities where students live may also lead young people down negative paths.

Daniel said TTUTA will always welcome ways to revamp the education system.

“TTUTA will support that perspective in terms of reviewing the system to see where we have flaws and how we could work together with both TTUTA and the Ministry of Education to support the development of a system for all our students –whether it is boys or girls, because some girls are involved in criminal activities also,” Daniel said. He reiterated that it must be a collaborative effort to improve the education system.

“It cannot be done by only one sector, but it must be a stakeholders’ approach in terms of parents, teachers, TTUTA, the Ministry of Education. (We must see) how best all of us could look at this system and put things in place to improve the system.”