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Students making their way to school at San Fernando Boy’s RC school on the first day of the school term. Photo by Lincoln Holder

Scores of the students of schools in San Fernando and environs showed up on Monday, the opening of the school year.

Many parents, as well as staff, did not seem to have heeded the call from the TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) for teachers to “rest and reflect” at home. The call was to express their dissatisfaction over outstanding wage negotiations.

A student of St Gabriel’s Girls RC school , San Fernando washes her hands before making her way to class on the first day of the school term. Photo by Lincoln Holder

Even the rain did not stop students from going to school.

At Presentation College, many parents accompanied their children to the entrance.

Vidyia Siewsankar, of La Romaine, saw her son Ryan,12, to the gate.

She said it was her son’s first day at the school and he was excited to be there.

At St Gabriel’s Girls’ RC Primary School, Sheldon Roberts and other parents dropped off their children. Sheltering his daughter Emma, nine, as they walked to the entrance, he said it was customary for him to go to school on the first day.

Photo by Lincoln Holder

“I always went to school regardless of what was happening. My daughter also wanted to come.

“I understand what TTUTA is asking, and I agree with the reason for it, because this education system needs to be revamped. Many people need an increase in salaries,” Roberts told Newsday.

“I also think the Government should put mechanisms in place to deal with greedy business owners. Some of them are ridiculous and very selfish.”

At San Fernando Boys’ RC School, Dana St Laurent dropped off her son Nikolai St Laurent, eight. She criticised the association’s call, saying members had significant time during the July-August vacation to rest and reflect.

A student of St Gabriel’s Girls RC school, San Fernando making her way to school on the first day of the school term. Photo by Lincoln Holder

“My son is now in standard two, and I also just dropped off my daughter (Natalia, 12) at St Joseph Convent. She is now starting school there.

“The call by the association was senseless.”

Students and staff were also seen heading to the Naparima Girls’ High School.

The gates at Grant Memorial Presbyterian School were closed. There were no classes owing to ongoing repair work.

Parents have been told the repairs are set to be completed by Tuesday, and classes are to start on Wednesday.

Students from Presentation College San Fernando making their way to their classes on the first day of the school term. Photo by Lincoln Holder

Photo by Lincoln Holder

A parent walking her son to school at Presentation College, San Fernando on the first day of the school term. Photo by Lincoln Holder

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Tobago

Scarborough Secondary School. File photo/Ayanna Kinsale

Several of Tobago’s schools stayed closed on Monday, the first day of the new school year.

The TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) maintained its call for teachers to stay home on Monday to “rest and reflect” on the State’s treatment of them.

TTUTA was offered a four per cent increase in salaries, across the board, similar to other public-service employees. Last Friday, TUTTA’s general council rejected the offer in a letter to the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO).

Newsday visited several schools in the western part of the island.

Parents of the children at Signal Hill Government Primary School were forewarned by the school’s administrator on Sunday evening to keep their children at home.

The message posted in the school’s group WhatsApp chat said: “Teachers are expected to heed the call of TTUTA to rest and reflect tomorrow Monday. There will be challenges in the supervision of students. In light of this, the promotion process will take place on Tuesday 6th September.”

A mother at the St Andrew’s Anglican Primary School said she met locked gates at the school, as she had not been informed of the teachers’ absence.

“I know of TTUTA’s call, but the school really said nothing. I got there to drop off my child, and as excited as she was for day one, we were informed by the security personel on duty that there is no school.”

At the Mt St George Methodist Primary School, students were also turned away.

Classes at the Speyside Secondary School also remained closed on Monday.

A press release from the THA Division of Education, Research and Technology at 11pm on Sunday said the school will reopen on Tuesday.

It said at a virtual meeting which included the secretary, assistant secretary, school supervisor III, project manager of the Project Implementation Unit and the school principal, they decided collectively to use Monday to complete all high-priority projects at the school.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Agentes, adscritos al distrito de Cabo Rojo, fueron alertados a través del personal de Emergencias Médicas del hospital la Concepción de San Germán, sobre una agresión grave ocurrida en horas de la madrugada del domingo, en la carretera 308 sector el Fanguito de Puerto Real en Cabo Rojo. 

Según la Uniformada, alegó Natanael Toro Lugo, de 37 años, residente del sitio antes mencionado, que mientras discutía con su madre identificada como Ana Lugo, de 54 años, le infringió una herida punzante con un arma blanca (cuchillo) en el área baja del costado del lado izquierdo. 

Más tarde del mismo día Toro Lugo se personó al área de Emergencias del hospital antes mencionado para recibir asistencia médica y allí informó lo sucedido. El mismo fue atendido por el médico de turno, quien diagnosticó una herida punzante de 3 centímetros por lo que requirió un punto de sutura. Al momento fue dado de alta y su condición es estable. 

Al lugar se persono el agente Luis Seguí de la división de Servicios técnicos y José Rivera de la División de Homicidios de Mayagüez. 

El caso fue consultado con el fiscal Francis Cuevas quien, citó 6 de septiembre de 2022, para continuar con la investigación del caso.  

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Black Immigrant Daily News

PHILIPSBURG — UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, has so far conducted two studies into the situation of children and adolescents in St. Maarten. The first report was published in 2013 and the second one in 2020. That second report contains some shocking details that urgently need the attention of our decision makers.

The report is entitled Situation Analysis on Children and Adolescents on Sint Maarten 2020. It was produced by the Dutch branch of Unicef and funded by the Dutch Red Cross.

Shocking? Take for instance these findings. Of the people interviewed for the report, 85 percent mentioned violence facing children, adolescents and women as a major issue. And 50 percent thinks that child sexual abuse is a common occurrence in St. Maarten.

The researchers interviewed 43 youngsters and 60 percent of them knew somebody who has been sexually abused. The reality is most likely worse, the report indicates: “These topics are sensitive and taboo and therefore always underreported.”

The report mentions a jump in reported cases of child neglect from 49 in 2017 to 119 in 2018, the year after Hurricane Irma.

The researchers furthermore found that foster homes and group homes do not operate in line with the UN guidelines for the alternative care for children and that the capacity at foster homes is very fragile.

Education is another minefield. Public spending on education is high, as are the enrollment rates, but the report found an unexplained gap between enrollment in primary and secondary education. It is also unclear whether all undocumented children attend school.

The Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector, for children aged 0 to 4, is poorly regulated. There are no quality standards for daycare centers and home-based care. Because the sector is not subsidized, children from poor families have limited access to ECD-programs.

The researchers note that there are no new data available after 2017, the year of Hurricane Irma. From before that time, the researchers note one positive point: vaccination levels are high. On the other hand, 30 percent of the population has no health insurance and obesity is on the rise.

Of the adult population, 29 percent is obese and 38 percent are pre-obese. In the Caribbean region between 28 and 35 percent of children aged 4 to 20 are overweight and half of them are obese.

It obviously did not help that between 2006 and 2016 fruit and vegetables became 2.5 times more expensive while food in general doubled in price.

A survey from 2013 shows that 30 percent of the age group 13-19 thought about suicide and 13 percent actually attempted it. More than half of these adolescents (51 percent) felt lonely and 53 percent felt depressed and hopeless.

Sexual health is yet another issue. A 2016 study of six island states shows that 50 percent of boys and girls experienced “forced sexual initiation.” In other words: they were raped. On the other hand, two-third of the youngsters used a condom the last time they had sex and 60 percent used a condom when they had sex for the first time.

The Unicef-researchers have one overarching recommendation: invest in capacity building in data collection, data analysis and data dissemination to monitor progress on the rights of children and adolescents.

The report points out that all ministries are one way or another involved in advancing the rights of children, making the topic therefore an inter-ministerial responsibility.

And the ministries have plenty to do: “Five important policies have been drafted but they have not approved been approved yet. One of the reasons is political instability,” the report states.

There is a draft national decree for the establishment of a national child rights committee and Unicef obviously recommends to get this one and all other draft policies approved. The report also recommends to research the extent to which undocumented children have access to public services on the Dutch and the French side of the island.

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