St Angela’s Primary School teacher injured after being attacked, beaten by parent

…more must be done to protect our teachers – GTU Head

Less than one day after a teacher of the Graham’s Hall Primary School, ECD was attacked and beaten by a parent, a teacher of the St Angela’s Primary School in Georgetown was similarly dealt with by a parent on Thursday.
Based on reports received, this female teacher, whose name was not released, sustained injuries to her body, including a swollen face; and the security guard, who attempted to normalise the situation, was also injured, as well as several staff members who tried to intervene.

The injured teacher was taken to a city hospital to be medically examined. Up to press time, the Education Ministry had not issued a release about the incident, and according to President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Mark Lyte, the Ministry must do more to protect teachers.
“The union is here in solidarity with the teachers of this school. This is becoming too frequent, where teachers are being assaulted by parents and guardians; and it is something that has to be addressed forthwith. So, we are going to continue to make the call to the Ministry to take decisive action,” Lyte told media operatives.
General Secretary of the Union, Coretta McDonald, has also condemned the assault and challenged the Education Ministry to not only issue a strong warning to parents, but to be consistent in its response to the attacks.
“We just had QC, not a sound. The Minister and the entire team, not a sound. If we are to debar parents from doing what they are doing, then we have to be consistent with our calls, and we have to take stern actions against these parents. We can’t do it for one parent and not do it for another parent because of their so-called statuses,” McDonald told the media.
The Education Ministry on Wednesday condemned the physical assault of Shawn Marshall, the Graham’s Hall Primary School teacher. In a statement, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussain said, “Whatever the circumstances, it is a reprehensible and ghastly act. It is unacceptable, and will not be condoned in the least.”
According to the Ministry, schools are considered safe spaces, and any act of violence is deemed totally unacceptable.
“When parents or guardians are engaged in violent acts against teachers, it goes against established values, norms and expectations. We cannot beat teachers and then ask them to teach our children peaceful conflict resolution,” the CEO said.
He added that the Ministry will therefore take all appropriate actions to ensure that all teachers continue to work in a safe and secure environment. Such actions, it has been noted, include prohibiting violent parents or guardians from having access to school premises, and transferring any learner whose parent commits any act of violence on any teacher, or any other sanction deemed necessary; while the Police or any other institution or authority would be encouraged to take whatever action the law prescribes.
The CEO has reminded all parents and guardians that, in any instance where an incident occurs with a teacher, the matter must be brought to the attention of the head teacher or teacher-in-charge of the school or institution.
The phenomenon of teachers being attacked at places of learning by parents or guardians, and even in some cases by students themselves, has been a cause for concern over the years.