Education Minister says many of the opposition's recommendations to curb violence in schools already implemented

 

Education Minister Fayval Williams has responded to the Opposition's 17 recommendations to curb violence in schools, saying many of them have been implemented at some institutions.

 

In a letter addressed to the minister on Friday, opposition spokesman on education Damion Crawford accused the government of not effectively responding to escalating violence among students within schools.

 

As a result, Mr. Crawford is proposing that the minister meets with the opposition and other stakeholders to find concrete solutions that will prioritise the safety and well-being of the nation's children.  

 

But, speaking Monday on the Morning Agenda, on Power 106FM, Mrs. Williams said the government's focus now is to scale up those measures that have been effective in addressing violence in schools. 

 

"For example, one of the recommendations was to put cameras in schools. We've just completed within the last three months an assessment of all our schools. So we know exactly where cameras are and we are embarking on a major procurement to get cameras into other schools. The idea is to ensure that across our schools in Jamaica, in particular our high schools, that that surveillance system is in place. And I know in the schools that have cameras, those cameras are watched," she asserted. 

 

Mrs. Williams said the Ministry of Education will be doing an assessment of some of its violence intervention programmes, with a view to having them replicated in other schools. 

 

"Recently within the last five days we signed off, through the Ministry of National Security, on a programme with the UK to help us effectively deal

with violence prevention over the next six years. And so there are a number of initiatives in schools, just that I believe we need to just assess each of them. See how many schools they're in, what's the effectiveness, and if the programme has proven to work, let us scale up that programme to other schools so that they can get the benefit as well." 

 

Meanwhile, the Education Minister is urging deans of discipline and guidance counsellors in schools rocked by violence to listen more to the students.  

 

"Yes, you may do it now but double down in terms of just listening to what students are saying in a way that you probably haven't done before. They come to school with their own agency. They have information, they have knowledge, they so want to be listened to in a real way. They want to be validated and I want to say they need a heavy dose of that in those schools in which the violence has happened," she suggested.