Latest update November 23rd, 2024 12:11 AM
Sexual misconduct in schools…Guilty teachers should be made examples of
– Minister Fox
In recent times, there has been an increasing number of reports of sexual misconduct in schools, where teachers are either having affairs with, or are sexually assaulting their students. In light of this, Minister within the Ministry of Education, Dr. Desrey Fox, has indicated that she believes harsher penalties should be imposed on those who are found guilty of these improper acts.
Speaking with this newspaper on one such episode, Minister Fox said she believes that, following the outcome of the investigation, once the teacher involved is proven to be guilty, she should be barred from teaching at that or any other school.
Minister Fox was at the time making reference to an incident which surfaced at Richard Ishmael Secondary, where a 45-year-old female teacher was reportedly caught having sex in a classroom with a 16-year-old male student.
Initial reports had stated that the teacher was also witnessed visiting hotels around the city with the student. As it relates to the investigation, Minister Fox emphasised that it is still ongoing, and following the outcome, the findings will be forwarded to the Teaching Service Commission, after which, if necessary, disciplinary action will be taken.
“As a woman, as a mother, and as a parent, I don’t think that teacher, if proven guilty, should be allowed to teach again at that school, or any other school…She would have broken all the codes of conduct as a teacher, and moreso, what she would have done would be morally wrong.”
She added that teachers guilty of such transgressions should be made examples of, and their immediate superiors should be taken to task.
“I say this to stress that many times, when these incidents surface, people want to blame the ministry, while I think the school’s administration should be held accountable. It is unfair for the ministry to take the blame.” She further opined that while there are no recorded statistics to show that there are numerous cases, and that they continue to occur daily, the schools’ administrations, in many instances, cover up such incidents.
“I strongly believe that these incidents start long before they actually come into the open or escalate, and it is only then it reaches to the ministry’s level…I think if schools have weak administrations and they can’t deal with these incidents, then they should make a request for assistance,” Fox stressed.
The minister further noted that schools need to put a closer monitoring system in place to protect their students from persons who, at the beginning of their service, take an oath to mould the nation’s children, but in turn try to rob them of their childhood.
Over the past two weeks, two such occurrences came into the limelight and have engaged the ministry’s attention. To date, disciplinary action has been taken against only one person. On Friday last, a 32-year-old teacher of Charlestown Secondary was remanded to prison after being charged with indecently assaulting a 13-year-old female student of the same school. The teacher, Gopaul Ramatulla, is accused of foundling the teen’s breasts.
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