Education Ministry rules burning incident as accidental

David Rose Special School

Following an investigation after a teacher of the David Rose Special School was accused of injuring a student of the institution, the Education Ministry has ruled that the incident was an accident.
Guyana Times published an article on Wednesday in which the mother of an eight-year-old child attending the institution accused the teachers of abusing her child.
The woman alleged that about two weeks ago, her son came home with a burn on his hand. Upon questioning him, she was told that he was burnt by the teachers. As such, she lodged several complaints at the Welfare Department.
After the article was published, the Education Ministry, in a statement, said it was

aware of the incident and the matter was investigated.
According to the Ministry along with an investigation, a meeting was conducted through engagements with the Special Education Needs Officers, teachers of the David Rose Special School, the parents of the child, welfare officers and representatives of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU).
The Ministry stated that the incident involved a glue gun and was not a deliberate act but rather an accident.
“The incident with the glue gun was an accident and not as a result of any deliberate wrongdoing of the teacher. The teachers were cautioned about being even more careful when using these kinds of equipment around pupils.”
Meanwhile, a number of conclusions emerged from the discussions, which indicated that an arrangement was agreed upon to have the parents and the teachers meet once per week, so as to become acquainted with the intervention strategies to foster a better teacher-parent relationship. Also, the teachers will have an opportunity to become aware of the parents’ strategies for dealing with the child.
Additionally, staff development sessions are scheduled to be held with teachers of the school on building teacher-parent relationships. At the meeting, the child’s parent and teachers were also made aware of their roles and responsibilities in this process.
“The Ministry will never condone any behaviour that puts the nation’s children in harm’s way and will ensure that the school is a very safe space for our future leaders,” the statement on Wednesday further noted.
The mother of the child told this publication that her son went home on three occasions and demonstrated to her what two teachers would normally do to him. He claimed that he was hit to the head and mouth with a stick.
Only recently, the woman alleged that another teacher attached to the institution saw her and told her of all the instances her child was abused by the other teachers. She also mentioned that the teacher told her that the complaints made by her autistic child were true.
When Guyana Times had contacted the headteacher, Dionne McKenzie, for a comment, she refused to speak and subsequently hung up the telephone.