Minister responds to concerns over schoolboy in the rain

MINISTER of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and sources at a primary school have responded to concerns that surfaced after video of a boy standing in the rain, seemingly locked out of a school circulated on social media on Thursday. They said the boy was let into the school after a very short time.

In the video a standard-five student was seen standing outside of a locked gate at the northern side of the Montrose Vedic Primary School on Elenor Street, Chaguanas, while rain fell. The commentary on the video said the student was barred from entering the school and was told to seek shelter across the road.

Contacted for comment, principal of the school, Ranu Jadoo declined to give an official statement.

However, Newsday was able to contact an anonymous source within the school who said the student was not left unattended for longer than five minutes.

The source said, "When the student arrived, the security guard was returning from the vicinity of the washroom. He was not left in the drizzle for long. Another student was also let in at the same time."

Gadsby-Dolly corroborated the source's report.

She said, "The school's principal indicated that the video was taken just as the rain started to fall. The guard opened the gate as soon as possible."

Gadsby-Dolly said the student confirmed that he was not left outside for an extended period of time.