Students say they feel unsafe at school in SVG

Students from four secondary schools across St. Vincent and the Grenadines say they do not feel safe at school, identifying physical hazards on their campus, other students bringing weapons to school, bullying, poor security, and among other issues, the absence of safety drills.

The students, Kennisha Welcome and Simlet Pierre, of Central Leeward Secondary School (CLSS), Jumarni Matthews of West St. George Secondary School (WSGSS), Kenniel Bess, of JP Eustace Memorial Secondary School (JPEMSS), and Marissa Compton, of Union Island Secondary School (UISS), shared their views as the Ministry of Education held a roundtable discussion to mark school safety week.

“.. in my school, on my side of the building, the fourth floor, some of the window frames are rotten and one time a teacher almost fell out, because when she leaned back on the window, the entire window pushed out,” Bess said of his school, which is located in Edinboro and was opened in 2009, after EC$6.3 million was spent on its construction. 

“So, the frame of the windows are not good. Also, the railings are rotting. Even come to the point where on the fourth floor, the railing is gone. So, students have to be careful when they are walking past there,” he said, adding that “nobody can survive that drop” at the school.

Pierre told the discussion that he feels “60 per cent” safe at school, adding that the railings on his campus are falling off and others are rusted. 

Matthews said he generally feels safe at WGSSS. He said, however, “… but sometimes, because the students in our school mostly walk with weapons and carry stuff in their bag that may harm us”.

The discussion, which the Ministry of Education broadcast live on social media on Thursday also heard the views of Kathy Badnock, an officer within the ministry’s school safety unity, as well as two teachers who are also parents.

Welcome said that she feels safe at school “sometimes”, adding that some children run around the campus, located at Peters Hope, although the railings are falling off.

Meanwhile, Compton said she feels “very safe” at the temporary campus at Arnos Vale.

Compton is taking classes at the former Teachers’ College campus at Arnos Vale, which the government upgraded after the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1, to house students from Union Island’s high school and two primary schools who opted to take classes in St. Vincent.  

Compton said there are three security officers at the school, adding that the officer would sometimes search students’ property,” something she later contrasted to the situation at her school’s permanent location in Union Island.

She said that the searching of bags does not invade students’ privacy. “It is for our own safety — if you walk with weapons and so on. And sometimes I’m extremely grateful for that because we might not know what might happen or occur in the school,” Compton told the forum.

Students’ responses cause teacher ‘to open my eye’

Adrian Wyllie, a teacher at St. Joseph’s Convent, Kingstown, a government-assisted Catholic school, told the forum that his campus is “a quite safe environment, inviting” and the students’ responses had caused him “to open my eye”.

“… as far as the physical plant is concerned, I mean that should be something basic that can be done to create some level of safety and comfort for the students,” Wyllie said.

However, Tamara Barrow, the moderator, told the students to “not focus on everything negative” and asked them to highlight some of the “positive aspects of your school that help you to feel safe”.

Bess then told the forum that the main focus of teachers at JPEMSS “is to teach the children so they can understand.

“Because we are having a problem in education in which teachers will say they’re only doing this to get money. But the teachers at JP, they teach for the students to learn, and my classroom, especially, everybody, we try our best to work along with each other and to support each other,” he said. 

Compton said a positive thing about her school is that when she enters, the security officers greet them “with a very big smile… 

“And you will see children running up and down. That just brings a sense of joy towards me and other stuff,” she said of the joint temporary campus at Arnos Vale.

“… when lunchtime comes, everybody hurrying, everybody making fun, laughing just for us to go collect lunch. Everybody just having a very good time,” she further said of the school, where the government provides lunch for the students, who were displayed by the damage caused by the category 4 hurricane.

Matthews spoke of the physical environment around his school, which is located at Belair.

“… the trees, the plants, nature basically brings a huge impact on our lives,” he said adding that on mornings, the security officers search students’ bags for “for weapons and any tools that may harm us”.

For Welcome, a prefect at CLSS, a positive thing about her school is the response she gets when she goes to the class that has been assigned to her.

“And there are kids in there that love me, and they just show me … so much affection and love. And it’s fun to see them. And if they ask me for something, I would give it to them. So, I’ve been called a best prefect for my class. So, I love that.”

Students call for repair to railings and fences, painting of buildings, more greenery

The students were asked what could be done to improve safety at their schools.

At CLSS, Pierre said he would first address the railings and louvres.

“… it has a whole class that the whole louvres [are] gone,” he said, adding that “whole railing” at one of the form 1 classrooms is missing.

“… and that is not very safe. And then the students still tend to go and sit right there,” said Pierre, who was injured at a children’s playground in Barrouallie two years ago when he ran into a piece of rusted steel that was jutting out of the ground.

Compton would not change anything at her campus, where 180 students began taking classes on Sept. 10 after an EC$3 million upgrade.

She described the campus as “very good, well maintained, no sort of issues with the school, plus the extra security and so on, transportation back and forth. 

“So honestly, there’s nothing wrong with the school that in my eyes I would change.”

Compton did not speak as highly of her school’s permanent campus in Union Island.

“Honestly, down Union, I wish there would have been like proper security at [our] school because most of the time, they may have a few fights outbreaking, and most of the time some weapons will be involved,” she told the school safety forum.

“And, honestly, they didn’t search bags — they don’t search bags as well as up here. Matter of fact, I never saw them search a bag down there since.”

Compton, said she would like it if the fence in Union Island were changed, adding that the fence around the school has “gaps to the bottom” and children could crawl under them to retrieve balls when they are playing football.

“… they will go to sneak under the fence and that will cause damage to their shirts and, well, basically any other things. And I would also change some railings, because some railings down Union, they are shaky; well, very shaky,” she said.

The student said that she would also like “a few fans” to be installed, adding, “Union is very hot, especially in the summertime”.

She said she would like the school to be repainted.

“… repaint the school and have a better cafeteria system,” she said adding that sometimes students who are in the back shout over those in the front and those in the back are served sooner.

Bess said JPEMSS would be improved if the railing are rebuilt and the window frames fixed.

“… upgrade the bathrooms to higher standards. Also, the furniture in the schools, because we’re having where students will destroy furniture, and we’re having a low amount of furniture [and] certain students have to sit on desk or stand until the school receives new furniture,” he said.

Bess also suggested that there be more clubs and groups at the school. He also had a suggestion about the colour schools.

“… not just paint them in simple colours, which is green and yellow and blue, but at least give them a little life feeling so, when students come to school, they can say, ‘Boy, my school look really beautiful’. 

“And when you step into the gate, they are welcomed, with lush, lovely plants by the side…”

Meanwhile, Pierre also flagged the issue of a broken fence at CLSS, saying that students sneak out through the fence at the back of the school.

He suggested that there be a higher level of security. 

“… because when you come through the gate, they don’t search your bags, and certain students bring knives, they bring scissors, and if a fight [breaks] out, they can just use that, and people can get harmed.”

‘some students “prefer violence over peace’

And, Matthews said he if he had the power to do so, he “would definitely increase the number of [security officers] at our school, put more facilities, much better teachers and the fence” at WSGSS. 

“There’s a fence outside that some students go around the back and run around to pass security, and sometimes they leave and go home without permission,” he said.

Bess also said he would “paint over the building, and mostly just make it a better place for students to learn … and also feel safe”.

He told the forum that some students “prefer violence over peace”.

Meanwhile, Wyllie, the parent-teacher, said he would suggest a vertical extension of SJCK.

“We need more space,” said Wyllie, who has been teaching at the school for one year.

“More space provides more classrooms, more options to diversify the curriculum. Offer a wider range of subjects or interests, clubs, extracurricular activities for our girls,” he said.

“And to be honest, I think if we get to engage our students on many different areas or diverse areas, we will make them feel safer; we would get them engaged such that they add value to the whole teaching and learning experience.”

Speaking as a parent, Wyllie said the people responsible for security at schools sometimes “don’t know their assignment, and you find them doing many other things outside the scope of their responsibility or assignment”. 

He said this is an area he is concerned about and would change.

“I’m also concerned about space, because you have primary school children, and we know how energetic they are. We know sometimes or most times they don’t look a few steps ahead in terms of how their actions can affect not only themselves but others, and space to do different activities, creating new interests, etc.,” he said.