Implement joint services approach to tackle school threats – activist

…says situation could be dubbed an act of domestic terrorism

The current situation regarding the threats being made to blow up schools and hurt students has not only caused great fear and anxiety among many school populations, but it also points to the mind frame of some students and the extent to which they could perpetrate violence.
This is according to Child Rights Activist and Social worker Nicole Cole who told Guyana Times on Sunday that the current situation is wholly disheartening and can be labelled as “domestic terrorism”. She said the fact that School of the Nations closed its doors for an entire school week confirms this.
“The new threats must be taken very seriously by the parents of those children who attend those schools (Queens College and Bishops High School). And they

too have the option of not allowing their children to attend school until the Education Ministry can guarantee their safety,” she opined.
Cole is resolute that as it stands now, no one is safe, as these individual(s) continue to wreak havoc and create fear in the minds of students of the nation’s educational institutions both private and public.
Asked whether she was pleased with the handling of this situation particularly by the Guyana Police Force, the Rights of the Child Commissioner said the lack of capacity and human resources is a hindrance.
“There is need for a joint service approach whereby the Guyana Defence Force is called upon to assist in intelligence gathering by utilising our best and brightest trained soldiers. The police cannot win this battle without involving the army who will help to boost the capacity of the police to quickly bring this domestic terrorism to a halt. The nation is now gripped by fear and is traumatised,” she added.
The outspoken activist is also recommending that the Education Ministry embark on a campaign that will help to restore hope and confidence, while simultaneously quelling the fear that exists within schools. She noted that it is the obligation of the Government and the Ministry to ensure the safety of all students.

Cole noted that Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that “Children have a right to be protected from being hurt and mistreated in body and mind,” while in Article 4 it states, “The Government has a responsibility to make sure your rights are protected. They must help your family to protect your rights and create an environment where you can grow and reach your potential.”
However, she rightfully pointed out that the environment at School of the Nations, Queens College and Bishops High School are polluted and unsafe because of the threat of what she described as domestic terrorism which is the threat to use violence to harm others.

Terror zones
“Schools are supposed to be safe zones but currently they are ‘terror zones’ and this situation needs our joint services to act in an operation titled “Operation Restore Calm and Order”! Article 6 of the UNCRC makes a poignant point whereby it concisely states “you have the right to be alive” and Guyana has signed and ratified the UNCRC to which it is now duty-bound as a nation to ensure children are duly protected.”
Aside from those recommendations, Cole said in the meantime, Queens College and Bishops High School will now have to boost their security by scanning school bags for offensive weapons, place armed guards at those schools under immediate threat and monitor persons going in and out of those schools.
She recommends too that persons entering these schools should be scanned to ensure that they aren’t carrying a weapon that can be used to kill and maim children. “There can be no shortcuts to protecting our nation’s children who are thy future. All means necessary needs to examined and explored to produce the desired outcome which is our children’s right to be alive as stated clearly in Article 6 of the UNCRC.”
Cole has called on Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan to take a lead role in the matter and urged him to convene an emergency security meeting with the joint services aimed at addressing this new domestic terrorism occasioned upon our nation’s schools. “His failure to act swiftly and decisively should be seen as unfit, improper and a dereliction of duty as Guyana’s Minister of Public Security,” she opined.
Cole has also reiterated calls for all the students at the schools with immediate threats to be screened for social and/or psychological issues. I am advocating for clinical assessment of all students. Everyone should have a screening. You screen for violence, for suicide, homicidal inclinations, “she added.
The Caribbean Community (Caricom) recently hosted a Youth Crime and Violence Summit here in Guyana in which numerous recommendations were made on how to effectively tackle youth crime and violence. During that forum, it was highlighted that the Region has some of the highest figures of youths being convicted for crimes, with 80 per cent of prosecuted crimes being committed between the ages of 19 and 29. (Samuel Sukhnandan)