Preliminary investigations by the Child Development Agency (CDA) have confirmed that children from Prickly Pole Primary and Infant School were in fact used in a demonstration in Claremont, St. Ann on Friday.
In a statement on Monday, the CDA said its officers personally witnessed children in uniforms, holding up placards with political slogans.
It was revealed that buses arrived on the school compound to transport students. However, according to the CDA, school personnel did not allow the children to leave in the first instance.
The buses left empty, but later returned with parents and relatives of the children as well as Board Chairman of the School and Councillor Vinnette Robb Oddmon.
The CDA sais nineteen children were transported.
Death of Akella Leiws
Akella Lewis, the 11 year old student of Prickly Pole Primary and Infant school who later died, reportedly boarded the bus under the adults’ supervision but reportedly fell ill and had to be taken off. When she became unresponsive, the principal was alerted and attempts to revive her proved futile.
According to the CDA's statement, the mother and other relatives of Akella were in one of the buses in the convoy but reportedly offered no assistance and proceeded to Claremont to participate in the protest.
The CDA said Akella lived with her mother only from birth to three weeks old, and was not raised by her.
The agency said the incident raises serious questions concerning whether the best interest of the children was being upheld by the adults who visited Prickly Pole on Friday.
It said a number of actions taken by the adults, leading up to, and during the incident, could be construed as directly contravening the Child Care and Protection Act.
The matter has been reported to the Office of the Children's Registry and the Office of the Children's Advocate.
CDA Officers will continue to visit the school to offer pyscho-social intervention and support to the affected children, the agency pledged.
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