The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin is concerned about businesses catering to students during school hours and parents threatening school safety through disorderly conduct that require intervention from law enforcement officers.

She also revealed during her contribution to the budget debate in the House of Assembly yesterday that the government wants to introduce a boarding school for at-risk boys.

She said Cabinet recently appointed a sub-committee involving herself, the minister of social services, the minister of immigration, and the minister of state for the environment to explore the feasibility of creating a boarding school, a concept Cabinet has approved. The Ministry of Works will create the architectural designs and consultants are aiding with the programme’s design. 

She said preliminary figures show school violence, stabbings, and assaults have declined this school year, and she credited school resource officers (SRO) for intervening and preventing school violence. 

She said barbers have often given haircuts to students during school hours.

She said SROs have warned business owners that they are breaching the Education Act when they serve students who should be in school –– a ground to revoke a business license.

“I wish to admonish all business owners not to provide any products or services to school students during school hours and support us in our efforts to ensure that our nation’s youth obtain their education,” she said. 

She also expressed concern about the trend of parents threatening school safety. She said this academic year, some parents or guardians have visited school campuses to challenge school staff over their child’s behaviour or grades. 

“In several of these cases, SROs had to place parents under arrest for a variety of offences, including threats of death, disorderly behaviour, obscene language, and assault on the school campus,” she said. “Those parents were subsequently placed before the courts as it should be known that police will maintain and the ministry a ‘zero’ tolerance approach for this threat to school safety.” 

Additionally, she said since the attendance hotline was officially launched in January 2024, there have been 173 calls up to April from people saying a child was not attending school. Mrs Hanna–Martin said the latest reports show school attendance is now up to 92 per cent.