Schoolboy suspended

The five-year-old student of San Fernando Boy’s RC primary school, who slashed his five-year-old classmate with a blade from a pencil sharpener, has been suspended.

This was the decision made following a meeting between Education Ministry representatives, staff members of the school and parents of both children.

The two boys are also to receive counseling.

On Monday morning the students were playing in the classroom before school started when one of them broke the sharpener and used the blade to slice the back of the other boy’s head.

It is believed the boys were playing a game called “barber” when the incident took place.

The injured child was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital, where doctors treated and later discharged him.

He was cut from the top of his head almost to the base of his neck. TT Unified Teachers’ Association first vice president Kyrla Robertson-Thomas confirmed that the five-year-old was suspended.

However, she told Newsday that while the situation was one that any parent would not be comfortable with based on the investigations it seems that the children were playing a dangerous game.

She said the incident occurred before classes started.

“They used a common school tool as a sharpener and decided that they will play barber with each other unfortunately it resulted in this poor young man having this cut down the back of his head.” She said the act was not deliberate or malicious but it was the result of a game gone wrong.