Claude Mills, Staff ReporterIN THE last three weeks, the education sector has been buffeted by a raft of disciplinary problems which has led to three student-on-student murders, student demonstrations and one case of malicious destruction of school property.
The situation has created an education community which is reeling in fear, mari-nating in frustration, and running out of ideas.
Earlier this week, a rampage by student vandals, who slashed a principal's car tyres, and destroyed school furniture at the Holy Trinity High School, clearly illustrates the seriousness of the problems afflicting the present school system. The students had been informed by their principal that they would not be graduating this year. One of three grade 11 students later pleaded guilty to the charge and will return to court on June 23 for sentencing.
A NEW LOW
"This is a new low," a sedate-sounding Wentworth Gabbidon, president of the Jamaica Teachers Associa-tion, said. "We have had three students murdered by other students within the course of three weeks. I visited Bridgeport, been on the phone with Happy Grove, but I haven't had the chance to visit Donald Quarrie yet. This problem is affecting a lot of people in the education sector."
Mr. Gabbidon has requested a meeting between the Ministry of Education and the JTA to specifically look at this problem.
"I've heard Dr. Brissett saying that the Ministry of Education and Ministry of National Security have been working on some new strategies to combat the problem, we'd like to be a part of the dialogue," he said.
Dr. Deloris Brissett is head of the Guidance and Coun-selling Unit at the Ministry of Education.
The education sector is regarded by many as a microcosm of the wider society, and it is no surprise
that it is often afflicted with poor conflict resolution skills, random violence, illiteracy and poverty-stricken students. Education insiders believe that criminal gang activity which flourishes in violence-prone communities have taken root in several school communities all over the island. In the wake of the death of 16-year-old Lamar Campbell of Bridgeport High, it was revealed that there were active gangs called '100-Man Gang' and 'Weedie Crew' in the school a charge vehemently denied by school principal, Aston Moore.
Superintendent Cornelius 'Calf' Walker of the South St. Catherine police division dismissed the speculation about the gang activity.
"There is no '100-Man Gang', it is just a group of students at the school who hang out together," he said.
Earlier this week, 18-year-old Marvin Dennis was stabbed to death by a group of students from the Donald Quarrie High School, who 'ganged up' on him outside a plaza in Harbour View. Leaford Hines, principal of the Donald Quarrie High School, admitted that the school had been have disciplinary problems and had been forced to call the police to intervene on several occasions.
Mr. Gabbidon said that he had not heard many complaints about criminal gang activity in schools.
"I have not had specific complaints about gangs, but we know that students form groups, they operate together, that happens in the communities, sometimes it spills out from groups into the community. The schools, the Ministry of Education, the various corporate partners, we have to work together to fight the problem, it's not going away, and it won't go away by ignoring it," Mr. Gabbidon said.
Last year, education officials attempted to restructure the Programme for Alternative Student Support (PASS) programme with a view to relaunching it in the near future.
The PASS programme was launched two years ago.
Under PASS, the Ministry intervenes in expulsion cases and works in partnership with schools, agencies and professionals who are able to provide specialised care to reform indisciplined students. These delinquent students would receive detailed counselling and then return to regular school.
Innovative ideas to combat the problem seem to be a decidedly scarce commodity. However, some schools have devised their own strategies to curb indiscipline.
"We try to forge strong links with the parents, and in the absence of that, we try to be proactive, we spend one month trying to identify a target group which is not focused as repeaters. Once we identify this core group, which usually has the ringleaders who give trouble, we get them tested for learning challenges, and try to get them into special programmes," said Wayne Robinson, principal of Quality Academics in Kingston and Immediate Past President of the Association of Private High Schools. "We recognise that they may have personal problems outside the school community so we have a 'guidance committee' set up to help these children find focus."
However, the 'guidance committee' is not a panacea that works in all cases, and at times the school has been forced to expel ringleaders who refuse to be reformed.
"It's not that we can't save them, we just don't have the ability to meet their special needs in terms of the limited training, infrastructure and facilities we have at our disposal," Mr. Robinson said.
