In a forceful defence of teachers, Griffith said many educators feel unprotected and unheard.
“There are some teachers who complain that they have complained over and over again about some students, and they feel that precious little is done.”
He explained that at his school, disciplinary matters are handled through a structured process involving the year head, principal, and a student affairs committee—which includes members of the Parent-Teacher Association. “That committee will meet with the parent and child, then make recommendations to the board. The board will deliberate and determine what action to take—whether suspension or expulsion—and then the Ministry of Education always has the last say.”
His intervention follows an urgent appeal from BUT President Rudy Lovell, who said recent events suggest the situation has reached a crisis point.
The unrest is most visible at Princess Margaret Secondary in St Philip and Frederick Smith in St James. Teachers at Princess Margaret have sent a strongly worded letter to officials detailing an upsurge in deviance, verbal abuse and outright violence from students. The school was closed on Thursday to facilitate a high-level emergency meeting between staff and Ministry of Education representatives; a separate meeting was also held at Frederick Smith that day as well.
Griffith warned that inconsistent application of discipline across schools only emboldens misbehaviour.
“If the action is fragmented and there is no uniformity, then people will take advantage of that. It’s not that we don’t believe the Ministry of Education has the capacity to do what needs to be done—they do—but the boards also have a responsibility. And if the board does its work properly, then fewer issues will even reach the ministry, because they would have been addressed before getting out of hand.”
He urged the involvement of social workers, guidance counsellors, and principals who have the “toughness required” to enforce school rules, noting that not all administrators or boards possess equal strength or expertise.
Griffith also threw his support behind proposals for parental accountability, similar to what the Trinidadian Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is trying to implement in that neighbouring country.
On Thursday during a media post-Cabinet meeting, Persad-Bissessar said she was fed up with the daily dose of school violence and announced that efforts would be put in place to curb the violence. She added that students caught assaulting other students, teachers and principals will be expelled and parents of these students and parents taking matters into their own hands, using threats or violence, would have to face the full brunt of the law.
“Once a person is a child, the parent must accept responsibility,” Griffith insisted. “If a child damages the property of a teacher, the child won’t work—so the parent must assume the responsibility.”
He continued: “I’m not saying that what is happening in Trinidad should happen in Barbados, but our people are intelligent and conscientious enough to know what is the right thing to do given our set of circumstances.”
And for the most extreme cases, Griffith said swift and decisive action is non-negotiable. “If a child brings a weapon to school, that’s a serious matter—the police must be called. You’re not going to twiddle your thumbs while the child comes to school with a knife or some other weapon or a gun, God forbid. Teachers must know that they can walk the corridors without having to look back in fear.”
Ultimately, Griffith said, the public must be made fully aware of where school boards stand.
“This is a case where we have to be firm and strong, and the country must know that’s what the boards mean. The board is not only there to have a little meeting once a month. The board is there to make sure the school environment is safe for teachers, safe for students, and safe for the ancillary staff or any other member of the public.”
He added, “We will rise to the occasion. We are not going to let the country down.”
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