PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - A school term opened in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar issuing a warning parents to do their “part now with your children so that in years to come when they become adults, you won’t have to be at the courthouse in your old age trying to secure bail to get them released from incarceration”.
School children in Trinidad and Tobago (File Photo)In a message posted on her social media pages, Persad-Bissessar called on teachers and principals to “adopt a zero-tolerance policy to disrespectful and misbehaved students and parents.
“Don’t stress out yourselves trying to help persons who don’t want to be helped, if students refuse to behave properly and parents are ignoring your concerns, send them straight home and let them and their parents battle it out in their house.
“You are there to teach, mentor, and protect those students willing to learn, you are not there to be abused, intimidated, and harassed by any student or parent. If any threat or abuse is made towards you, contact the TTPS (Trinidad and Tobago Police Service) immediately and let law enforcement officers deal with these errant individuals,” she wrote.
IN her direct message to parents, the prime minister said that they should ensure that their “children are properly cared for, prepared for school, and taught discipline, respect, and responsibility at home.
“Know what they are learning, monitor their behaviour and progress, listen to their concerns, and work closely with their teachers,” she said, adding “do not dump your parental responsibilities onto teachers, that is your job, you made your children , it is not the teachers’ or anyone else’s responsibility to mind them.
Persad-Bissessar said that she is aware of that most of the students returning to their classes on Monday will heed the call for them to be disciplined and concentrate of their schoolwork, noting however that “a minority of you will not heed this advice, go to school to bully others, not study, create chaos in classrooms, and hinder other students from learning and having a pleasant school experience.
“This bad behaviour will result in failure and you will doom yourself to a difficult life ahead full of low-paying jobs, struggles, and misery. Many persons will give you glib reassurances that if you fail at school your life is not over but trust me they are not telling their own children the same thing. “
But Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said that “these same persons while publicly giving you that advice are privately giving their own children and grandchildren the same warnings about a difficult future without an education as I am giving you today.
“None of these glib people are going to lift a finger to help you when you complete schooling without an education and are struggling to earn a living.
“Life is tough without an education, it will grind you down until you end up just surviving day to day and not actually living a satisfying wholesome life,” she said, adding “there will be always be difficult days in life but a good education gives you many options to navigate difficulty and overcome challenges to have a wonderful life.
“To our teachers and principals, your work demands patience, authority, and sound judgment. You carry an immense responsibility, and I thank you for maintaining standards while guiding and encouraging our children.”
Meanwhile, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA), Crystal Ashe he is expecting a low turnout of students on the opening day given that the government assisted cheques for parents were only distributed last week.
“It came much too late. That’s last week, Wednesday, when they actually started distributing these cheques. These are government cheques. They will have a five-day waiting period, sometimes even more. That is the fac,” Ashe said, noting the problems associated with collecting the cheques from the authorities.
“… you have no security or anything like that, putting your life at risk,” he said, noting that teachers collect the cheques even though it is not their responsibility.
“But you know what? They do it. Because we see the need for the parents to actually receive this money. There are some persons who genuinely need it, and we have no problem with that,” he said, noting however that “the process should have started earlier.
“You didn’t know school was going to close. You didn’t set the date. So if you know school is closing on a particular date, you put the things in place so that it will happen before, so that everything will be in a timely manner.
“This week, we expect a very low turnout,” Ash said that repairs at some schools have not been completed.
Education Minister Dr. Michael Dowlatt said over 300 schools have been under repairs and that those that have not been completed would still accommodate students.
“Over 300 schools, I think the exact number would be about 359 that we are looking at. We have focus on washrooms, sewer systems, electrical systems, water storage, ensuring that …classrooms are intact, that the schools have the right furniture,” he added.
Ash disagrees, saying that some contractors and the principals will make alternative arrangements.
“So I know for a fact, I’ve had that experience already, where they would work on a weekend, but you can’t tell me you’re coming and drilling and cutting and screwing and all those things. And then in addition to that, children are by nature very inquisitive. So you don’t want to have these things, you don’t want to have them distracted, because they should be focused when they go there, their focus is on their work”
President of the National Parent Teachers Association (NPTA) Walter Stewart is also concerned about the readiness of some schools.
“This year, however, according to reports of the 359 schools scheduled for the 2026 repairs, only 100 have been completed to date. We are therefore faced today with several schools entering the new academic year unprepared to fully receive our students,” he said.
