Education authorities meet with BUT, parents, staff at Belmont Primary School

Officials from the Ministry of Education including Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw and acting deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson are meeting with teachers at the Belmont Primary School to discuss security issues at the school.

This meeting comes on the heels of a shooting incident in Odessa McClean Drive, My Lord’s Hill, St Michael last Friday that resulted in the school gate being damaged.

The school was closed on Monday after parents expressed concern about the safety of their children. Teachers, also fearful, reported being ill and sought medical attention.

Before seven o’clock this morning, workers from Greaves Work, a chain link fencing company, started fixing the gate and completed the job just before 9 a.m. The gate was inspected by Archer-Bradshaw and other officials

First vice president and chairman of the Barbados Union of Teachers Health and Safety committee Julian Pierre said the union was taking part in the meeting as well.

“We are here at the Belmont Primary School and this would have been based on a news report of some violence in the area over the weekend. The Ministry of Education Technical and Vocational Training is meeting with the staff and Barbados Union of Teachers is also here to sit in on the meeting to hear what are the updates regarding security at the Belmont Primary School,” he said,

“The school is actually blessed to have a security guard, that is one of the ongoing issues generally within our schools, both primary and secondary, but they did fear that with the upsurge in violence, once there’s something happening, there may be something counteractive. So, they really want to know what is going on from the ministry’s end and what can be provided that they can upgrade security, at least in the area.”

Barbados TODAY understands that student teachers from Erdiston Teachers College are supervising the children as the meeting unfolds. (sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb)

Video by BT’s Haroon Greenidge.
Read the full story in Tuesday’s E-paper.