The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is calling on the Ministry of Education to “stop with the public relations defense tactics” and give Barbados the truth about the failed simulation exercise at the Springer Memorial School.
DLP Assistant General Secretary Pedro Shepherd made the call in the wake of the press conference held by the Ministry after Wednesday’s incident, which he said left several students and teachers injured and traumatised.
“The Ministry of Education is attempting to paint the narrative that they did their part to inform all parties involved with emails and an announcement on the school PA system. Yet chaos and confusion was the result as students and teachers scampered for their lives, some left nursing cuts and bruises, many in tears and in need of counseling,” Shepherd said in a news release on Sunday.
“Something is not adding up or as those same young people might say; the math is not math-ing!”
The planned incident which involved several masked men armed with fake guns and machetes who executed a surprise raid on the school, halted classes for the day and forced parents to collect their distressed children early.
Shepherd called on the Ministry to stop trying to minimize what occurred and further charged them with concealing the true details of the event.
“Officials claimed the exercise only lasted four minutes but in that short time, an unprecedented amount of damage was done, meaning the drill went wrong almost immediately. Additionally, some of what the Ministry is saying does not align with stories from students and parents. The DLP is hearing of serious injuries and both the school and Ministry need to be held accountable,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd said he is “puzzled” as to who thought this style of drill was a good idea for unprepared secondary school girls to undergo.
“That type of simulation should be reserved for persons in the military or police forces. Barbados is a highly educated society and I find it impossible to believe that not one official who planned that fiasco of a drill, did not think about the many worst-case scenarios. However, these are the things that happen when you fill your meeting rooms and Government departments with yes-men and yes-women,” Shepherd chided.
Going on to state that schools are inherently supposed to be safe environments for children to learn and grow, the authorities who hold the responsibility for this protection during school hours “failed miserably at their task”.
While the Ministry and officials are currently receiving intense backlash on social media from upset Barbadians, it was stated that counselors will be provided for the students who were traumatised by the event. The DLP Representative urged them to do more than just a few days of counseling.
“The mental anguish and trauma this situation has caused is a real concern of the DLP. So there is a need for a comprehensive, flexible counseling programme for these students and their parents who were trampled physically, mentally and emotionally,” he said
Shepherd said the DLP deeply sympathises with all who were affected by “this unnecessary drill” and concluded that there was absolutely nothing educational about it and “the only lesson learned is that no school in Barbados should ever do anything this reckless again.”
(PR)
