Counsellors assisting Petersfield High after students’ deaths

A trauma counselling team and education officers have been dispatched to the Petersfield High School in Westmoreland, following the deaths of two students in a motorbike accident on Tuesday.

The team will provide support for members of the bereaved family and school community in the aftermath of the tragic incident. Addressing yesterday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in St Andrew, Education Minister Fayval Williams expressed condolences to the immediate families, friends and the school community of the two fourth-form students- Zackeal McIntyre and Ajani Robinson. Both students were on their way to school when they met in an accident and were killed.

"I think we can all agree that this is a tragic loss on so many levels, a loss to their families, school communities and Jamaica as a whole. I pray that with the support of the ministry's counselling team and that of the wider community, that the immediate and extended families will be able to find some comfort during this difficult time," Williams said, adding that there are talks about expanding the trauma teams' reach to the communities. The minister appealed to Jamaicans to protect the nation's children as they travel to and from school.

"In fact, in a recent survey that was done, travelling to and from school is one of the areas feared most by our children, and so we have to say to the adults in Jamaica 'be the protector of our students'," she urged.

"Sometimes they have to go alone because their parents have to work. There are many different situations and we need to come together as Jamaicans to be the protector of our children, whether yours or somebody else's. Children need to be able to trust adults, and to know that adults are there to protect them, so we are really saddened by the many different situations that have come to our attention and we do the best that we can to provide support for the families in their moment of grief," she added.