…over social media comments
…not allowed to submit SBA’s for CXC
Five students attending a West Berbice secondary school have been sent home from school since November and not allowed to submit their School Based Assessments (SBA) for the Caribbean Examination Council later this year. The punishment was meted out to the students as a result of “derogatory” comments in a social media chat group. In the private chat group, the students gave the head teacher a “nick” name.
The issue was raised when the Region Five Regional Democratic Council met last Thursday. Coalition Councillor Takoor Singh said a teacher of the school got a hold of one of the student’s cellular phones and while searching the student’s phone, the teacher found the chat group where the head teacher was being referred to as “alligator face”. As such, a report was made and the students who were part of the group were all suspended for two months and were reportedly not allowed to submit their SBAs.
Singh asked the RDC to have the matter investigated and expressed concern over the way the students are being treated.
“From November to know these children don’t have any sort of tutoring. They were on the street kicking bricks wondering what will be the next move. I consider this move the anile. Why this asperity? I am bemused; I think the character of these guys has been demonised. I am wondering why human beings will attack others in such a malevolent, deficit and irresponsible manner.”
Singh referred to what is being allowed to happen to the students as being destructive in nature and harmful to their academic career.
“The President had pardoned youths who were incarcerated for various infractions and he said ‘prison is not the place for them, let them go and find themselves back in school’. Why should we threat these naive students in such a manner, do we want to make them future criminals, drunkards, gamblers? What are they going to do for their future?” the coalition Councillor questioned.
Singh told the RDC that the Chief Education Officer instructed that the five boys be allowed to return to school. However, the Department of Education in the region is not permitting them to attend school.
“The department remains intransigent on this matter,” he told the RDC.
Noting that $2 billion is being spent on education, Singh referred to the action by the school’s administration as harmful. He said the administration acted with destructive hate.
“The action taken by the department is irrational, absorb, vacuous, malicious and spiteful.”
