Linden school bullying: Education officials intervene to resolve issue

Following reports that a 13-year-old student of a secondary school in Linden, Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) was being bullied by classmates and a teacher, education officials have intervened, and the matter has been resolved.
This is according to Murtland Halley, Public Relations Officer attached to the Ministry of Education, who told this publication, “The child is comfortable in school, being taught.”
It has been reported that the child was bullied by classmates, and that the class teacher had condoned those actions. The child’s grandmother, Anita Elliot, had related that the child came home from school on May 31 crying, claiming that his classmates had bullied him.
“He does stammer a lot, sometimes you (don’t) understand what he does talk, and he is fat. So, he said the children interfering with him in the class, say they gon put he up on Facebook…and whole heap of thing they tormenting he. And he said the teacher did nothing,” the child’s grandmother stated.
Elliot, a retired social studies teacher, said that after that incident occurred, the boy’s mother visited the school with the intention of meeting with the teacher. However, the teacher was absent, so this led to the mother messaging the said teacher.
“The class teacher’s word was that he must be tough. He got to be strong and stand up like a man, and stop crying for everything…she doesn’t see any issue there, and she don’t see the class did him anything,” Elliot related.
The grandmother claimed that the following day, the teacher “went to the class and tell the class how [the child] complain on them and…the whole class start make mockery of him”. As a result of this, her grandson responded “aggressively”.
“It is alleged that he pointed his hand in her (teacher’s) face in a rage, and she walked out the class and run to the Head Teacher’s office and said that she frightened for she life,” the grandmother contended.
The child’s mother was then summoned, and that led to a further confrontation between her and the teachers. The family then decided to get welfare officers involved.
Elliot said that after seeing the Regional Education Officer, the child later returned to the school the same day, only to find that his name was removed from the “class group” by his teacher.
“The list, or group, is called the ‘class group’, which involves both parents and students from the class.

This is where everything that goes on in the class is posted into, which includes his assignments, projects, group work and homework. So it is a very important group, especially (seeing) that end-of-year exam is approaching; he needs to be up to date with his school work and course work,” Elliot explained. To date, she said, the teen’s name is yet to be returned to this list.
On Monday, officials from the Department of Education in Region Ten visited the school, and the matter was discussed and resolved. The child and his parents were involved in the discussions.
“I was up there in Linden, and I just spoke to REDO [Regional Education Officer]. The child is in school, doing work as per normal,” the Education Ministry’s PRO has said.
The grandmother has confirmed that the matter has been resolved and the child is back in the classroom as per normal. However, she expressed concern that his name is yet to be returned to the class group.
“My concern is that the teacher must put him back in the class group, so he can get his assignment. He already apologised to the class teacher, still she is not adding him back to the group,” Elliot told this publication today.
When presented with this bit of information, Halley said officials would look into the situation, but assured that there should be no need to worry.
“There is no need to worry, since all assignments and class-related work (are) discussed in the classroom. This is what was explained to me by the Regional Education Officer. There is nothing being done to make the child fail,” he has assured.