Low success rate in sexual harassment probes

Teaching Service Commission (TSC) chairman Dr Fazal Ali said the commission has just a two per cent success rate in resolving cases of sexual harassment by teachers against students since 2014 until now. He said in most cases the mother instructed the matter be dropped because of the trauma the child had to go through.

Complaints of sexual harassment are received by the Education Ministry, and subsequent reports were forwarded to the service commission department.

TSC member Joanne Joseph-Hannays said there were 33 reports of sexual harassment received for the period 2014 to March 31, 2019. None have been found guilty. This was revealed at a Joint Select Committee inquiry into sexual harassment in the education sector with specific focus on students at the ANR Robinson Room, Parliament on Friday.

The TSC, TT Unified Teachers’ Association, the Education Ministry, the National Parent Teachers’ Association and the University of the Southern Caribbean all gave their reports.

There were 21 charges of sexual harassment by male teachers against female students; four charges by male teachers against male students; one by a female teacher against one female student; two charges by female teachers against male students; one charge against a female teacher against a class of male and female students; one charge against a non-teacher against a female student; and three charges against male teachers against female teachers. There are no reports of sexual harassment by students against teachers.

JSC member Rushton Paray questioned the number of cases before the TSC.

“The Attorney General, when we were doing the Sexual Offenders Registry Bill, he identified over 14,000 cases of sexual abuse of minors. When you put that over the number of complaints coming from the ministry and the TSC, the disconnect is too wide. Something is not right,” he said.

TTUTA general secretary Fitzroy Daniel said their data system was an archaic one which hindered them from pulling files on complaints against teachers.

Paray said: “TTUTA is saying they have an old filing system and the records are poor. TTUTA, who has a responsibility for their members, says due to filing system employed by the organisation it was difficult to extract the complaints. There are low incidents of reporting by principals and the inability to dismiss those who were charged.. I believe we have a serious problem with the school system. The data collection is causing a serious disconnect. When last did the four organisations sit together to discuss this matter?” he asked the group. Ali responded: “Never.”

Joseph-Hannays the TSC cannot proceed with a matter until they received the court’s transcript.

“The delays will not change unless the teacher is charged under the Children’s Act (Section 30 (d) where the penalties under this are more severe. People need to see the system is working and the penalties are not small. Maybe then we will be able to improve the system. If the police charges the teacher under the Children’s Act that teacher can get a fine of about $50,000 and 15 or 25 years imprisonment, and if there is sexual contact, life imprisonment. But the police will not send that kind of data to us.