Stakeholders in the regional education system are meeting to discuss ways in which officials can address violence in schools, which has been increasing in the Caribbean.
This is being done at the 38th meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) on Education got underway at the CARICOM Secretariat, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
CARICOM is rolling out its Human Resource Development (HRD) 2030 strategy and is currently examining a number of issues relating to the regional education system.
CARICOM Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque pointed out that establishing safe and healthy schools is being advanced as a means to address violence in schools.
He noted that safe schools promote the protection of students from violence, exposure to weapons and threats, theft and bullying, as well as the sale and use of illegal substances on school grounds.
“Data on school-based violence in the Caribbean have revealed increasing incidences of violence in both primary and secondary schools,” the Secretary General said.
“School-based violence has been associated with poor attendance, decline in performance, high drop-out levels and decreased academic achievement. Low educational attainment is associated with poor employment opportunities and crime and violence, which ultimately impacts on sustainable development of the region,” he stated.
To this end, Ambassador LaRoque said the COHSOD meeting will look at results from three complementary strategies which are being implemented to address this challenge.
“These are aimed at improving the schools’ environment, as well as strengthening social and life skills among students, their peers and families,” he added.
The regional officials’ examination of school-based violence comes on the heels of two female students of the Tagore Memorial Secondary School on the Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) being involved in a violent fight last week.
The incident has left a 15-year-old traumatised and embarrassed after she was badly beaten and her hijab ripped off by her fellow schoolmate, while others watched on.
Back in March, also in Berbice, a video had surfaced with a student of the New Amsterdam Technical Institute (NATI) beating three of his schoolmates with a belt in a classroom.
In February, a 15-year-old student of Covent Garden Secondary School, East Bank Demerara, was stabbed during an altercation with his classmates.
Meanwhile, between 2017 and 2018, at least three other students ended up in the hospital with stab wounds sustained during fights steaming from schools.
