Minister of Education Nicolette Henry on Thursday met with the student population of the Richard Ishmael secondary along with the teachers following the brutal beating of a schoolgirl by a male student.
At a special assembly, the Education Minister encouraged the children to find other ways apart from violence to deal with diverging views and conflicts, a statement from the Ministry noted.
She told the children that there is a certain behaviour that is set out in the school policy that they should at all times adhere to and any deviation from what is expected will be dealt with firmly.
The Minister decided to visit the school after a video of the beating went viral on social media.
The video shows the male student pinning the young lady on the ground while he repeatedly punched her in the head and other parts of the body as other students look on. It is not known what prompted the brutal beating or when it occurred.
The Education Minister was heavily criticised for her position on the brutal beating after she told reporters Wednesday that “Students fight, there is nothing unusual as you would know, you have gone to school and we all would have saw.”
According to the Education Ministry, the students involved in the fight met with the Minister and “were made to apologize to each other. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.”
The Minister of Education told the students that they should make maximum use of the educational opportunities that are available to them, and not be distracted by undesirable situations that are unproductive and will not help their development.
Additionally, Minister Henry told the children that they should be their brother’s keeper and the next time she visits the school she wants to hear good things about the institution.
Meanwhile, the Minister said that the School’s Welfare Department will be utilizing the services of one of the Mobile Psychosocial Unit to address issues affecting both students and teachers at that school.
