The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Union of Teachers Acting President Joan Knowles-Turnquest yesterday called on public school administrators to “take a stand” and “enforce every single rule in school,” as she said teachers are “fed up” with “being in fear of their lives being taken away from them” due to school violence.

Mrs Knowles-Turnquest, during a press conference in which she bemoaned the recent wave of school violence, said administrators “should not be afraid” to enforce the rules, adding that if administrators are hesitant to, they should “relinquish” their posts to “someone who is willing” to do so.

She added that school administrators should strive to enforce “every rule that exists at the school” from the moment school opens rather than waiting “until the rules are all broken before taking a stand”.

Mrs Knowles-Turnquest also called on the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) to “identify the strong administrators in our schools” and have them serve as “models for other principals who are not pulling their weight regarding discipline”.

Her comments came just days after a 7th grade male student of AF Adderley Junior High School allegedly brought a gun on the school’s temporary campus.

A 12-year-old boy has been arraigned in a Magistrate’s Court facing a charge of possession of an unlicensed firearm in connection with the incident.

That incident came just weeks after a stabbing incident at Government High School drew national attention. The incident left three students injured.

Yesterday, Mrs Knowles-Turnquest asked: “How can you teach if you are not sure which student is brandishing a handgun or any form of weapon?”

“It’s not only a knife or handgun that we’re concerned about,” she added. “We’re concerned about any item that can be used as a weapon to harm our teachers. And so they are very much up in arms, and that is why the call is for administrators to take a stand and enforce every single rule at school.

“If you have a rule that speaks to haircuts, then you enforce whatever the rule is. You should not be afraid to enforce the rule. That is why you have been placed as an administrator at that particular school. Now if you choose not to follow the rules, then you need to do something else, relinquish it, and give it to someone who is willing to enforce the rules.”

Mrs Knowles-Turnquest also called for more “parental involvement” in schools, saying that officials “must ensure that they are doing what they’re supposed to do as parents.”

“The teachers are not the parents,” she added. “Yes we act as that, and we are forced into acting that way, because we have to know that we must provide in our classroom, a safe haven for our children. But we act as parents when a lot of the parents are not doing what they’re supposed to do.

“Something as simple as coming to a PTA (meeting), even if you cannot make it to the PTA, you mean to tell me there is nobody in your family who could go to represent you, to speak to your child’s teacher to find out about your child? So we wait until problems occur, then we run to the school and we want to beat up and fuss out the teachers.

“Enough is enough. We want to make that clear to the powers that be that enough is enough. Our teachers are fed up, they are in fear of their lives being taken away from them.”

On Monday, Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald said the onus for the recent violent incidents on school campuses must fall on the wider society, further lamenting that officials have done everything they can to stop school violence.

At the time, Mr Fitzgerald insisted that he and his ministry have taken a “zero tolerance” stance towards violent incidents on campus, and have responded to such incidents “extremely swiftly…even if it means the prosecution of individuals involved.”

Mrs Knowles-Turnquest agreed yesterday that the MOEST does have “a number of things in place” to help mitigate against school violence, such as district superintendents meeting “regularly” with the school administrators, and the administrators subsequently dialoguing with teachers via their respective unions.

However, the union official maintained that stronger administration is needed.

“We are of the opinion that measures are in place, certainly,” she said. “We are also of the opinion that we need stronger administration. That is where the problem is going to be eradicated. The ministry could have a million and one ideas, the union can have a million and one ideas, but when we go to the schools and they are not being carried out, something is wrong. Something else must be done.

“So maybe we need to look at who our administrators are. I don’t want to call anybody out, but maybe we need to look at that.”

In the wake of the latest incident, there has been an increase in calls for tougher policies and heightened police presence at schools.

Among others, Marvin Dames, the former deputy commissioner of police and the Free National Movement’s candidate for Mount Moriah, said last month that metal detectors should be placed at entrances into junior and senior high public schools.

Mr Dames also called for the presence of additional security guards on campus.

Mrs Knowles-Turnquest said the BUT is in support of such interventions, along with the installation of security cameras in all public schools, but said the focus should be geared toward a more “proactive” approach to dealing with the problem.

She said the country must look at the “root cause” of school violence and “stop putting a Band-Aid approach on this vexing issue.”

“We must stop making excuses for students’ negative behaviour and we must require that standards of behaviour be adhered to,” she said. “We call on the powers that be to devise a comprehensive approach to solving the problem of school violence. Discipline and order in the schools must be enforced.”