'Most unfortunate,' says regional director at MOEY

Barrington Richardson, director of region 7 within the Ministry of Education and Youth (MOEY), has described a video of a fight between a student and the dean of discipline at Kemps Hill High in Clarendon as most unfortunate.

The 30 second video which has been making rounds on social media, shows a male student pushing the dean of discipline, whilst instructing the dean not to touch him. The two subsequently ended up in a tussle and fell to the ground.

The video shows a  man who appears to be a security guard seemingly attempting to quell the fight. The STAR understands that the incident happened on Tuesday.

The school's principal, Karen Charlton-Boothe, as well as the school's chairman Clover Morrison have denied to comment on the incident.

Meanwhile, Richardson says he is taken aback over the incident, stating that Kemps Hill High had been making stellar progress over the years, under the School-wide Positive Behaviour Intervention and Support (SWPBIS) initiative.

SWPBIS is an Education Ministry-led programme geared towards responding to incidents of violent conflicts among students, particularly in secondary schools, with a goal to create and sustain safe schools by fostering a disciplined and structured environment to deal with challenges such as student violence.

"They are a school that has been doing very well. They have their jingles, their murals, etcetera, and so, we find this to be an anomaly based on what we have seen in terms of the progress and behaviour management at the school, so we have taken very keen interest, because something must have happened that would have triggered that kind of response," Richardson told The STAR.

He said efforts are underway to ascertain a detailed report surrounding the circumstances of the incident.

Richardson emphasised that incidents as those are always unsettling for educators, adding that schools should be safe spaces for all stakeholders.

"We want to engender a culture of order and discipline, and mutual respect, and when we see these kinds of behaviour, it causes us to reflect on what else can we do, as we try to create a safe space  for our students and our teachers," Richardson added.

He disclosed that the school board will meet on Friday, "to have the matter fully ventilated."\

- Olivia Brown

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