Lost in the system – Arima teen out of school for two years

WHILE most of Trinidad and Tobago’s teenagers benefit from free government-funded education, one Arima child has been left behind.

Fourteen-year-old Annalisa (not her real name) has not attended secondary school for a combined total of two years. The Calvary Hill resident passed her SEA examinations in 2023 and was assigned to a secondary school along the East-West Corridor, but what should have marked a new beginning, instead turned into a nightmare.

On a quiet morning at their modest Arima home, Annalisa sat silently on the veranda, her hands clasped on her thighs, as her mother Cynthia (not her real name) revisited the events that shattered her daughter’s school life.

“Around the fourth week of school, I realised (there were) black spots around her eyes,” Cynthia recalled. “I thought it was from lack of sleep. She said it was nothing. The following week, the marks weren’t getting any better. Then the story came out.”

According to Annalisa’s official handwritten report, her bullying began after a disagreement with two classmates on September 24, 2023. Threats were made to physically harm her, and one student carried out those threats during break time on September 26.

Cynthia said the abuse escalated through a WhatsApp group of more than twenty students.

“They started talking about her body size and shape,” Cynthia said. “They kept insulting her until they eventually removed her from the group.”

On September 29, another incident forced Annalisa to hide when a student took her belongings and shouted insults. Classmates warned her not to return to class, where no teacher was present, because others were “waiting to harm her.”

Parents seek help, meet resistance

Cynthia and her husband repeatedly went to the school for help. “We spoke to one of the deans, [name called],” Cynthia said. “She told my husband that Annalisa ‘has a man,’ that’s why they behave like that. She even said the relationship broke up with a 12-year-old boy. I asked for Annalisa to be moved out of the class, but the dean refused, saying she would deal with it.

“The next day, I had to go back again because they were pelting her with pencils and hurling abuse. When I told the dean that they lashed (struck) her, I was asked what the dean did to the other children. She said, ‘The children are not listening; they are not backing down.’”

Cynthia was promised that Annalisa would be kept safe in the staff room. A promise that was not kept.

“The next day, I went to check, but she was again bullied. When I reported it, they told me, ‘We cannot deal with this right now.’” Frustrated and fearful for her daughter’s safety, Cynthia withdrew her from the school.

The family was then given referral forms to take to the Ministry of Education (MoE) office in El Dorado. But the process became a loop of incorrect documents and unanswered calls. An official police report was filed at the St Joseph Police Station on September 30, 2023.

Throughout 2024, the family navigated what Cynthia described as “a maze of red tape, broken promises, and emotional exhaustion.”

“I got no positive response from anyone in 2024,” she said. “I had to use the money we were saving to redo the roof to send her to a private school.”

In January 2025, Annalisa enrolled at President’s College, Tunapuna, where she earned an average of 75 per cent in her first and only term there.

“But the money is finished,” Cynthia said softly. “So now I have a 14-year-old lying down all day. She’s bored, afraid to go back, and just wants to return to school. Annalisa got lost in the system because of that school. I’ve tried everyone.”

Dowlath: Ministry has a lot of bureaucracy

Cynthia shared with Newsday copies of letters and WhatsApp messages sent to multiple education officials. On July 10, 2025, she wrote to the Ministry of Education’s head office. On September 25, 2025, she sent the same correspondence to the new Minister of Education Dr Michael Dowlath, Chief Education Officer Dr Peter Smith, and the MoE Transfer Board.

The family was also in communication with former minister Lisa Morris-Julian (now deceased), Calvary councillor Jeniece Scott, and MP Pennelope Beckles. Cynthia showed Newsday her text exchanges with Morris-Julian, who had been in constant contact.

All documentation, including the handwritten report, school letters, and police report, was sent via WhatsApp to Dowlath on October 10, 2025, and again on October 12. The latter was sent when he returned Newsday's call following his attendance at the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival in Chaguaramas.

At a subsequent public event at the Hyatt Regency, Minister Dowlath confirmed his awareness of the case.

“Yes, I remember it. The girl from Arima. Did they send the information to my office? The ministry has a lot of bureaucracy, and we’re trying to deal with it.”

Commenting on the matter on October 10, recently replaced TTUTA president Martin Lum Kin said he was aware of similar cases where students had been left out of school for extended periods.

“I’ve heard about a few similar cases where the child is out of school. The Ministry of Education (MoE) has a committee that meets occasionally to deal with transfers, but it’s not enough,” he said.

“At one time, there was an arrangement between the principals of the schools. Then it became an arrangement with the school supervisors. Now it’s the committee.”

Waiting for a school place

School violence has plagued the national system for years, and despite interventions such as police officers being placed at high-risk schools, the behaviour continues. New videos of students fighting still find their way on social media.

For Cynthia, the question remains: how long must her daughter wait for a fair chance at education? Annalisa, now 14, still dreams of becoming an attorney at law but each day without school pushes that dream further away.

“She’s a good child,” her mother said. “She just wants to learn. But after everything, she’s afraid, and nobody seems to care.”

Asked if it was even possible for her daughter to try to return to the school she had left, she replied, "Even if I wanted her to return to that school she can't, because I already signed a form at the school which says that Annalisa's space is vacant."

Editor's note: The actual names of the individuals and schools involved have been withheld to reduce the likelihood of abuse.