Andrew Holness, the minister of education, has raised concerns that the intrusive thug culture endemic to some communities has been transferred to school campuses, sparking allegiance wars and confrontation that could spill over and worsen civil disorder and violence already rampant in society.

"For a democratic society to survive, there must be some form of guidance, regulation and enforcement as to how persons form groups that could, potentially, be inimical to the survival of the democratic state," said Holness, during an address at the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica General Conference at Jamaica College in St Andrew last Friday.

Holness charged principals and other school administrators to exercise greater control over formal and informal student groupings, citing reports from parents who have become increasingly fearful about sending their children to school - either to become gang recruits or the victims of violence.

"The principals must seek to use their authority to ensure, from the outset, that gangs are not formed or survive in the schools. The principals have an inherent authority to order that gangs are not formed and I encourage them to use that authority, that even the slightest demonstration of a gang, they must swoop down on it with severity," he declared.

Bloody fights

However, the 'authority' of school principals has been progressively eroding over the past decade, as administrators have struggled to rein in bloody and sometimes fatal fights over issues ranging from flashy cellphones to interschool bragging rights. Teachers and principals have also faced increasing attacks from students and their families. Despite body and bag searches, as well as the instalment of metal detectors at some institutions, schools have also battled with students who smuggle in knives, ice picks, machetes and, occasionally, pistols.

The installation of policemen operating as school resource officers, an initiative under the Safe Schools Programme aimed at encouraging conflict mediation and adding security muscle, has had limited success.

Holness on Friday cautioned teachers and administrators against treating the possession of offensive weapons by students as minor infractions. An insistence on hauling youngsters before the courts for criminal misconduct has been a refrain of Holness' since his 2007 appointment as education minister in the Labour administration.

"The police must come and do their job. The youngster must be taken from the school, the weapon must be seized and he must be charged.

"Let the courts decide the course of punishment or rehabilitation that will be administered to that person, but it is not the jurisdiction of the school to sweep it under the carpet, cover it up or ignore it. If we do that, we are not training our youngsters to become law-abiding citizens," Holness said.

Curb student possession

The minister hinted that the police would, under the proposed memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of National Security, be coopted in the drive to curb student possession of weapons and contraband, as well as truancy, outside school gates.

"Too often you drive on the roads during school hours and you notice youngsters in uniform, out of school, in the bus park, under trees, being involved in all kinds of illegal and unwholesome activities," he said.