Chief Education Officer, Harrilal Seecharan said that investigations at the Guiaco Government Primary School show that everything was above board.
Speaking at an Education Ministry Press Briefing at the Education Tower in Port-of-Spain yesterday, the Chief Education Officer responded to claims by the relatives of eight-year-old, Nathaniel Findlay that the child was left unattended for a long period after he collapsed which may have resulted in his death.
Nathaniel’s mother, Raphael Findlay told Guardian Media that she was told that it was a policy for teachers not to move ill children from the school and this can only be done by a medical expert.
Japhael told us that she left her home on Monday afternoon after she received a phone call from the school that Nathaniel had a seizure. She claimed when she arrived her son was lying in the same spot he fell and no one wanted to move him since the Emergency Services did not arrive on time.
However, the Chief Education Officer said “I am not sure what policy you are referring to, within our schools in the Education Act, Principals have the responsibility for safety and security, there are protocols to be followed and we have a crisis management team at the school and there is process to be followed in terms of emergency”.
He added, “Our latest report at this school is that the protocol was followed, normally in the instance where there is an emergency or a child is injured, the ambulance service is contacted and they would normally transport the children”, he said, “We have many instances including this one where the child was transported in a teacher’s car so really its an assessment of the context and what the situation is.”
The Chief Education Officer said, “I am not aware of any policy that prohibits a principal and teacher, there are guidelines to be followed but no policy prevents them from aiding a child to assistance”.
On another matter, the Ministry of Education would begin a four-day consultation with stakeholders in preparation for their Inclusive Schools Project set to launch in January.
The project would seek “to strengthen the systems that already exist within the Ministry of Education, Student Support Services Division” and improve provisions for special needs students.
The focus consultation kicks off on Friday at the School of Education at the University of the West Indies and would include various non-governmental organisations. The consultations would continue through to Wednesday, November 20.
In January, the first phase of the project will be rolled out at two primary and one secondary school in each educational district.
The ministry said full staffing and resources would be provided to these schools.
“In Trinidad and Tobago, not only in the school system but outside we have a number of our children who need special attention and if we are to ensure that our education system is equitable, we have to put things in place so that children with special needs are adequately taken care of,” Minister of Education Anthony Garcia said at the press conference.
“We are doing everything to ensure that the education we offer to our students is equitable and is of very high quality.”
He noted that although these consultations are the first focused specifically on special needs education, it is being done in conjunction with feedback received during their two previous consultations on education held since 2016.