Education Minister: Trinidad and Tobago has a bullying culture

EDUCATION Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly says the death of 14-year-old Jaden Lalchan has led her to recognise there is a national culture of bullying.

She made the comment on October 9 while contributing to the parliamentary debate on the 2025 national budget.

Gadsby-Dolly expressed her condolences to Lalchan’s family and described his death as tragic.

Lalchan, 15, died by suicide on October 3 after years of alleged bullying at his school, St Stephen's College, Princes Town. Police have since said the matter is being investigated.

Gadsby-Dolly said bullying is prevalent and has existed for years, not only in schools but in society as a whole.

“It's been happening for as long as schools happen, for as long as society has happened. It happens on social media like clockwork.

“And we, I think, have started to understand the effects this can have not only on schoolchildren, but on anyone in the country.”

Gadsby-Dolly said instances of schoolchildren dying by suicide were not new and urged fellow MPs not to treat it as a political issue.

“We can point to situations in schools in 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014 where schoolchildren have taken their lives. So it's a national problem that we have to face and we have to think about how we can be kinder to each other. It's not about the politics, it's about drawing attention to a national issue.”