Protests sparked after Fort Wellington teacher attacked, beaten by students, relative

– Police expected to act swiftly – Min Manickchand

Teachers from the Fort Wellington Secondary School took to the street on Tuesday following an incident whereby a teacher was reportedly attacked and assaulted.
Calling for the violence against teachers to stop, educators from the Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) institution held placards and protested in front of the school.
This stemmed from a recent altercation where Marlon Daniels – a teacher of Fort Wellington Secondary – sent a student to the Head Teacher’s office for disrespectful behaviour. The student left after hurling threatening language.

Sometime later, while Daniels was at a nearby printery, the student reportedly returned with a relative. Together with other students, they physically attacked the teacher. As a result, he received injuries on his body.
One placard read, “Student violence against teachers has become a norm and that’s not okay!” Others wrote “teachers are no longer safe in schools” and “there is no discipline in schools anymore”.
One teacher condemned the attack as she questioned the rights of teachers and the systems in place to protect against such incidents.
“We need disciple back in the schools. Teachers cannot control these children anymore. They don’t listen to teachers and there is very little that we can do to control them. There is no order in the classrooms and it is not because the teachers are not trying.”

She added, “We are trying but the children are very indiscipline… All the rights go to the children. What can we do? Are we supposed to be beaten on the road? We are professionals and we are imparting knowledge on the nation’s future. Is this how they treat us? It is unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, another on the protest lines pointed out that no action was yet taken against the perpetrator.
“What we have seen over the course of the last several hours is that no action taken in terms of the perpetrators being charged for wounding our teacher who was on duty at the time when the incident occurred. Secondly, nobody from the Department came to speak with the teachers,” he expressed.
Commenting on the matter, Education Minister Priya Manickchand shared that she spoke with the affected teacher, offering full support with the expectation that the Guyana Police Force would act swiftly.
“As soon as I had heard, I spoke to teacher Marlon Daniels of the Fort Wellington Secondary School to find out what had happened. Upon learning of the details, I offered my and the Ministry’s full support. There can be no reason as to why students or their relatives would beat a teacher. I expect the Guyana Police Force to act swiftly,” the Minister relayed.
In recent months, numerous cases of students or a relative attacking or abusing teachers have been reported. The Education Ministry had condemned such acts, labelling them as reprehensible and ghastly.
According to the Ministry, schools are considered safe spaces and any act of violence is deemed totally unacceptable.
The Ministry had said it would take all appropriate actions to ensure that all teachers continue to work in a safe and secure environment.
Such actions, it noted, include prohibiting violent parents or guardians from having access to school premises, and transferring any learner whose parents commit acts of violence on teachers or any other sanction deemed necessary, while encouraging the Police or any other institution or authority to take whatever action the law prescribes.