After shooting near school… TTUTA worried about safety of teachers, students
President of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA), Martin Lum Kin, says he is very concerned about the safety of teachers and students attending schools in hot spot areas.
Lum Kin spoke with Guardian Media today after visiting St. François Girl’s College in Belmont, following last Friday’s shooting incident.
Two men allegedly shot at two others along Serrenau Road, meters away from the girl’s high school.
Immediately after the shooting, police arrested two men. One of the men, who had been shot in an exchange of gunfire with police, died a day later.
Commenting on the incident, the TTUTA president said it shows the gravity of the crime situation in the country.
“We are very concerned because the high level of criminality and crime that is taking place is affecting the nation’s schools, especially those that are in ‘hotspots’,” Martin Lum Kin said.
He argues: “True learning can’t take place if you are constantly thinking of your safety—what may happen, who may breach the security at any time. And so the occupants [at schools] are subconsciously being affected emotionally.”
Even as he called for more police patrols around schools in hotspot areas, Lum Kin lamented the need for perimeter fencing at all the nation’s schools.
He says gunmen once operated under an unspoken code where schools and places of worship were left untouched—but not anymore.
“If we look at the compound, we see high walls and high fences,” he points out. “This is an indication of the times we are living in. But it also puts us into a perspective that our schools must have these perimeter fences.”
“If one did not know this was a school,” he says, “one would think it is a prison.”
The TTUTA president confirmed that counselling has been made available to those affected by last week’s shooting incident.
He told Guardian Media that he visited the school today to show support for the teachers and students.
Martin Lum Kin is calling on the Ministry of Education to provide some measure of safety and comfort for those at the school.
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