Police, school administrators to meet in response to violent student clashes

By Prince Moore    

 

The police and school administrators are scheduled to meet on Friday, in response to an outbreak of violent clashes involving students of several Corporate Area schools, and growing tension among students of these schools.

 

The meeting is to be held at Calabar High School.

 

There have been several days of attacks involving students in the vicinity of the Transport Centre in Half Way Tree and other locations in Kingston and Spanish Town. 

 

Principal of Mona High School Keven Jones is confident that the schools will find ways to quell the dispute. 

 

"I'll be heading up to Calabar High School to have a meeting with the Headmistress [Sian] Wilson about the matter. I think the issue of the core values, you know, the respect and the honesty and all of those things that we try to inculcate in our students, I think what we're seeing is a deficiency in these core values in our children," he asserted Thursday while speaking on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines.

 

Mr. Jones has said the dispute is centred around a female student from The Queen's School and two boys, one of whom attends Mona High and the other who attends Calabar High. 

 

The conflict forced the closure of Mona High on Thursday and Friday. 

 

The Ministry of Education, school administrators and the police have intervened in the disputes that are threatening to spiral out of control.

 

The police say the physical altercations, which started last week, have escalated, as evidenced by the incidents portrayed in viral videos circulated on social media.

 

In a joint statement on Thursday afternoon, the principals of Calabar High School, Mona High School, Jamaica College, St. George's College, Kingston College and Campion College warned that the matter would be thoroughly investigated and that the students involved will face disciplinary action.