The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Director Dominique McCartney-Russell yesterday defended a Majority Rule programme at Garvin Tynes Primary School after a video of students singing a political song during the event sparked controversy.

The video, recorded on Tuesday, showed students singing “PLP all the way” and “the PLP coming oh they scared, they scared” before cutting off.

It drew criticism from some quarters, including supporters of the Free National Movement.

FNM chairman Duane Sands questioned whether the presentation was balanced and called on officials to provide full context.

“We’d like to know what is the context and whether this was something that was approved or sanctioned by the administrative leadership of education because on the face of it, it is problematic when our little children get embroiled in overt partisan politics,” Dr Sands said.

When contacted for comment, Mrs McCartney-Russell said she was unable to say whether the presentation was inappropriate, noting that she was not in attendance.

She said the ceremony was a special assembly held on Tuesday to mark Majority Rule.

Mrs McCartney-Russell said she was advised that the presentation highlighted key events leading to Majority Rule, including the Burma Road Riot, the women’s suffrage movement, the birth of the governing party, the General Strike and Black Tuesday.

She said the programme included students sharing historical facts and performing a song as part of the presentation.

“That particular clip was taken out of context in light of the fact that every grade level had an aspect of Majority Rule to present on and so I'm not going to comment on whether it was appropriate or not, because I was not there.”

Moving forward, she said officials will meet with school leaders to ensure children are protected.

“An innocent program was taken out of context,” she added, “and so we certainly will have the conversation with our team members so that at the end of the day, our children do not suffer as a result of their participation in what we will consider a pivotal moment in Bahamian history.”