Parents of injured pupil peeved at school’s inaction

Nov 07, 2012 News

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– Boy fell from stairway

The parents of eight-year-old Shaquan Isaacs are currently contemplating their next move following an incident at the Ketley Primary School which has left him hospitalised. Hospital officials have confirmed that the Grade Three pupil has suffered a fractured left arm and sustained several abrasions to his face.
During an interview with this newspaper on Monday, the boy’s father, Linden Isaacs, revealed that his son’s injuries came as a result of a fall from the school’s stairway to the ground below.  The incident occurred on Friday last.
The senior Isaacs said that although neither he nor his wife, Tracey Burrowes, witnessed the incident, his wife was informed of the situation by an older daughter who attends the school.
The man said that not only did he learn that his son had fallen, but he was told that no teacher rendered any assistance to him even though he was bleeding and unconscious for several minutes.
“I understand that my son fall down, get black out for about 15 to 20 minutes, and was lying on that ground bleeding…and not a single teacher didn’t even attempt to help that boy.” an evidently concerned Linden Isaacs stated.

Isaacs, who drives a minibus, said that he was working at the time when his wife first telephoned him to relate that their son had fallen at the school. He disclosed that he was unable to head to the school immediately, since he was taking a load of passengers to Lodge, Georgetown.
However, another telephone call from his wife indicated that something was seriously wrong since it was at this point that she related that Shaquan was unconscious.
“I hurry and try to drop off me passengers because is only then I realise was no ordinary fall this boy fall.”
Recognising her husband’s inability to get to the school in a timely manner, Burrowes, who operates a small shop at the family’s Lot 40 Houston Fisheries Road, East Bank Demerara home, decided to board a taxi to hurriedly get to the school.
The woman said that she arrived about half an hour after her daughter’s call, but her son was still on the ground in the very area that he had fallen. By this time he had regained consciousness and was in a sitting position.
“When I reached the school, all I see was a crowd of children and then I see this boy was just sitting there dazed…his shirt was bloody and he had cut his mouth, and the left side of he face was all bloody and bruise up.”
Burrowes said that she received assistance from a male passerby to carry Shaquan to the waiting taxi in her quest to take him to the Georgetown Public Hospital. At this time, she said that a teacher volunteered to accompany her to the hospital, but was warned by the head teacher not to do so.
At the hospital, Burrowes said that she was unable to answer any questions asked by medical officials since she had no knowledge of how her son had fallen, how long he was on the ground, or what he experienced in the period following the incident.
“We couldn’t tell the doctors if he vomit, if any fluids come out of he ears…nothing we couldn’t tell the doctor,” both parents lamented.
They recounted that the service rendered to the child at the hospital was exceptional with several doctors attending to him almost immediately. A number of x-rays were done to determine if there was any damage to the young Isaacs’ head.
However, the senior Isaacs said Monday that doctors have indicated that yet another x-ray may have to be done since his son’s face was still exhibiting signs of swelling. He has also been complaining about pains to his head.
“That boy could’ve died just because they (teachers) didn’t do anything and this is what I just can’t understand,” the man lamented, as he revealed that he has since learnt that a teacher had in fact called for a taxi to take his son to the hospital. However, he claimed that the car was forced to leave since the head teacher had reportedly indicated that she was not willing to finance the trip. The man said that while he does not blame anyone for his son’s injuries he just cannot come to terms with the fact that the teachers, particularly the head teacher, were not more responsible.
The head teacher in a telephone conversation with this publication on Monday said that she was not willing to comment on the matter and instead directed all queries to the Schools’ Welfare Department.
An attempt to secure a comment from an official in the Welfare Department was greeted with “please, you have to call one of the big ones in the Ministry, like the Minister or the CEO, because we can’t comment on that…”
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, informed this publication that while she is not aware of the matter she would seek to find out the details of the incident before offering a comment.

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