Church, education leaders engage Ministry on SAFE Initiative

Fr David Khan, Vicar for Education and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Catholic Education Board of Management (CEBM), Sharon Mangroo, the Chair of the Association of Denominational Boards of Education (ADBE), and representatives of denominational boards met with officials of the Ministry of Education online last Thursday, September 11. Also in attendance was Deputy Police Commissioner Junior Benjamin.

The Ministry has been hosting a series of meetings on its Stakeholder Alliance for Education and Enhancement (SAFE) initiative. According to the Ministry’s Facebook page: “The SAFE initiative places students at the centre, fostering safety in schools and supporting the uninterrupted delivery of the curriculum. By emphasising prevention, accountability and early intervention, the initiative aims to reduce violence and indiscipline while promoting healthier, more supportive school climates.”

“I came out of the meeting wanting it to work because we do want better for our schools. We do want our schools to be safe environments and supported to do the work that needs to be done,” Fr Khan told The Catholic News in an interview on September 12.

A presentation was made by Earl Horne, Health, Safety and Security Manager, Ministry of Education, on how the plan would be rolled out.

Fr Khan told The Catholic News, “The PowerPoint basically dealt with the interaction between the police officers and MTS [National Maintenance Training and Security Company Ltd] [on] how are they going to handle situations, the Ministry highlighting obviously, that the principal has the final say but they have their part to play”.

Boards were informed that the presence of police in schools is not intended to be permanent.

“This is not long term. They will review it; they will be monitoring it and, after six months, make a decision on continuing and moving forward with it,” he said. Police will not be physically present at all schools but “roving”.

On the criteria used for selecting the schools at which police would be involved, Fr Khan replied, “The Ministry said all that they have done was based on data-driven research, in the selection of the school. They didn’t elaborate on the extent of the data collection to choose the school.”

A list of schools to be assigned police was published by the Trinidad Guardian on Wednesday, September 10. Seven RC schools were named. The CEBM was not informed of the presence in any of its schools although a query was made.

Chair of the ADBE Sharon Mangroo said the information shared was very informative especially on the roles and responsibilities of each category of personnel. “There was an explanation of the entry protocol and actions to be taken in the case of non-compliance.”

The impact of teacher absenteeism on student safety was raised by Mangroo on behalf of the ADBE. She told the Ministry, “In addition to the teacher absence in the classroom due to leave, the MoE should also address the large number of teacher vacancies still existing in schools. There is a limit to what a principal can do with scarce human resources.”

The first sensitisation of education stakeholders was held on Friday, September 5 at the Ministry’s head office St Vincent Street. Education Minister Michael Dowlath and officials of the Ministry met with principals and vice-principals. Also participating in the meeting were: representatives of the Ministry of Homeland Security; the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service; the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago; and Ministry of Education officials for the SAFE initiative. On September 9,

a meeting was held with Deans and Heads of Departments at which questions were asked and clarifications given about the plan. – LPG