JTA president calls for divine intervention in schools

Declaring that there is an “evil taking over” in schools, Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President La Sonja Harrison says divine intervention is needed to help stem the tide of violence sweeping many institutions.

“I call on righteous men and women of the clergy to seek greater levels of partnership with schools in their locale to offer spiritual support as administrators and teachers do the best they can with the resources at their disposal to treat with this increasing challenge,” she told The Gleaner.

Two fatal stabbing incidents have been recorded in school since year, the most recent being at Kingston Technical High School last month, when 17-year-old Michion Campbell was fatally stabbed by a colleague. In March, 16-year-old Khamal Hall, a student of William Knibb Memorial High School in Trelawny, was stabbed to death by his schoolmate during a fight over a “guard ring”.

Several other bloody brawls have unfolded on school compounds since the students returned to the classroom in March after a two-year absence due to the pandemic.

Harrison said that the recent flare-ups have left some teachers feeling unsafe.

“I saw recently a video of a colleague trying to part two boys fighting. In trying to do so the teacher fell to the ground, owing to the rage of the boys. Did you know that currently, teachers have no insurance when injured on the job? This can’t be, and we want teachers to put themselves in harm’s way to part these enraged students. May God help us. We need prayer, prayer and more prayer in our schools,” she said.

And although she said that the JTA provides counselling services and represents their cause should educators sustain injuries in school conflicts, she said there are still challenges.

“The MoEY (Ministry of Education and Youth) has provided allocation for metal detectors, and, in some cases, surveillance devices, but these are still not reducing the increasing challenges being faced by school administrators and their teachers. Teachers need a safe environment in which to work. Many schools don’t have a day watchman or any security guards,” Harrison said.

On Wednesday, Education Minister Fayval Williams told The Gleaner that the ministry is providing support for teachers.

“Since coming back to the face-to-face environment, we have a slate of professionals – psychologists and so on – who are available to students as well as teachers. They’re on call. They are not permanent, and we pay for the service because we recognise that our teachers will need that support when they experience or witness violence in schools,” she said.

“The teacher is the first line of defence, meaning the teacher in the classroom would be able to identify changed behaviour in students, and they’re able to escalate to the guidance counsellors,” Williams added.

However, Harrison believes a national campaign on family life, parent skills and the communal nurturing of children is needed urgently to tackle violence in schools. Additionally, she is calling for the guidance counsellor ratio of schools to be moved to one for every 500 students, down from 1:600 as negotiated by the JTA some five years ago.

“All stakeholders need to put their hands on deck to solve this challenge. The children are mirroring the poor example displayed by us as adults in conflict resolution. The PM (prime minister) in a statement recently said we spend millions on buying hardware to solve crime, but what we really need as a people is new heartware. Only the Eternal Father can give us that,” she said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com