Minister of Education, Sonia Parag, has made it clear that she will not condone students hitting and attacking their teachers, and those caught on camera attacking a teacher recently in a classroom will face suspension and possible expulsion.

The Minister said an investigation of the incident has been launched and the students have been suspended while the investigation is underway. The findings of the probe could lead to the students being expelled.

Speaking briefly this afternoon with News Source, Minister Parag said there is a zero tolerance policy against violence and indiscipline that will be enforced.

“While we cannot do a one size fits all, we have to look at things case by case and I am absolutely not going to condone a student hitting a teacher. A teacher should not have to endure that and teachers are there to ensure that students are learning, and schools are institutions that have rules and regulations and they have to abide by them”, Minister Parag said.

In the video that has gone viral on social media, a teacher could be seen attempting to part a fight between two girls at the Carmel Secondary School. As the teacher pushed the two girls away from each other, she came under attack by one of the girls and several other girls.

The incident has once again thrown the spotlight on violence in schools and the issue of bullying.

The Government through the Ministry of Education recently launched a major campaign against bullying and violence among students and young people in general.

The Education Minister said the efforts to curb the problem must pull together support from more than the Government and educators.

“We are taking a zero tolerance approach to any kind of violence, whether it be student against student, student against teacher, student from one school to another school, school against school, and when I say zero tolerance, we are going to be working to drastically reduce bullying, violence, that is stemming from bullying and so on. Its a situation where I definitely want this to become something that I will work wholeheartedly on for the next five years and that is the position of the Government as well”, she noted.

The Minister of Education paid a visit today to the Zeeburg Secondary School in Region 3 following another incident that was caught on camera and involved a student being attacked and bullied by a group of boys. Minister Parag said a special assembly was hosted and the Ministry’s position on bullying and violence in school was made clear to the students.

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