Two students raped in a week
Police are expressing concern over two separate sex attacks in schools last week.
In one particular case a severely traumatised 15-year-old girl is now on suicide watch after she was allegedly raped by a classmate in a classroom as another student looked on. The incident occurred at a south secondary school.
The T&T Guardian was told the girl was approached by a 16-year-old boy and his friend, the same age, who demanded that she go into a classroom with them.
The girl initially refused, but eventually obliged after she was threatened. While in the classroom, one of the schoolboys allegedly scolded her and raped her while the other one looked on.
The two schoolboys were taken into police custody and questioned about the incident but it is not known whether they have been charged.
A parent of a student at the school, who wished not to be identified, claimed her daughter was also often harassed by male students but she said nothing was being done by the principal and teachers.
“My daughter told me that every time she would tell the teachers on the boys but she believed that her voice is not being heard and her cries for help and to feel safe are being brushed off. Maybe, God forbid, if she is raped too then somebody will take it seriously but then it will be too late,” the parent added.
A similar incident occurred last Friday at a secondary school in south western Trinidad, where a Form One female student was seen running into a classroom with her clothes torn.
She later claimed she was threatened, beaten and forced to have sex with a male Form Three student in the school’s female washroom. That incident is also being investigated by the police.
Also, in east Trinidad, police are probing a case of alleged impregnation of a 13-year-old girl by a close relative.
Contacted yesterday on the sex attacks in schools, T&T Unified Teachers’ Association president Devanand Sinanan said while such incidents were not new, he said in trying to treat with them over the years there seemed to be no solution to the problem and by extension, the escalating school violence.
“I don’t think we have the answers to this, which is a social problem. Despite all, we see that the national community has to come together and recognise that we all have a part to play in dealing with this societal problem. The very fabric of society has broken down,” Sinanan said.
Asked what were the consequences for principals and teachers should they fail to report such incidents, Sinanan replied:
“The code of conduct specifies certain crimes must, by law, as principals, be reported to the police. In such cases, like possession of arms, ammunition, drugs and extreme violence, principals and teachers must report it to the police and if they fail to do so they will be breaking the law and will face disciplinary action accordingly.”
There are, however, growing concerns about the recent incident in the wake of a decision by the Ministry of Education not to renew the contracts of school guidance officers/counsellors.
According to a source assigned to a secondary school in south Trinidad, because some schools are now without counsellors, victims are unable to receive professional help.
“There are also the children who are faced with school bullying, physical, verbal, emotional and mental abuse. There is no one there to get them back on track and they will be left to self-destruct if not given the help required to heal from the abuse,” the source said.
Contacted yesterday for comment, a ministry official who did not want to be identified, said while the counsellors’ contracts had ended some of them were being renewed on a month-to-month basis.
On the issue of the non-renewal of contracts for school guidance officers, Sinanan assured that TTUTA was given the assurance by the Minister of Education Anthony Garcia that such contracts, along with school safety officers and business office assistants, would be renewed.
