Educators undergo training to tackle violence in schools

Several head teachers and district education officers commenced a two-day training session today aimed at tackling the issue of violence in school.

The training is being held at the Pegasus Hotel and is funded through the Canadian Government’s Impact Justice project.

Deputy Chief Education Officer at the Ministry of Education, Ingrid Trotman noted that discipline in schools has become an area of concern for the Ministry as of recent.

She pointed out that when it comes to the necessities; tolerance, inclusion, managing emotions, building relations and using problem-solving skills, educating the personnel is important.

“As educators, we have been faced with numerous incidents where our students, parents, teachers as well as community members have been in conflict, contentions or situations that created distance between the persons involved and have warranted interventions.

“Bullying, harassment, anti-social behaviour, drug abuse and in recent years, many safety issues concerning students’ behaviour confronts schools’ authorities,” Trotman told those gathered at the opening ceremony on Wednesday.

The IMPACT Justice Project seeks to improve access to justice across the 13 CARICOM countries in which the project is being implemented. One of the ways the project has sought to reach this objective is through the promotion of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques to assist persons in resolving their disputes.

One of the ADR mechanisms focused on by the project is Restorative Practices, which has been proven to be effective in addressing instances of violence and conflict within schools.

Regional Director of the Project, Professor Velma Newton in her address noted that violence in schools is one of the major issues affecting not only Guyana by other CARICOM countries.

“We would like you to introduce this concept into your daily dealings with children and your colleagues and into the curriculum of teachers’ training colleges. Restorative practices have been used throughout the world and particularly in North America for solving disputes at schools and we in the Caribbean are extremely concerned about the increasing levels of violence in our schools,” she noted.

Between 2014 and 2017, IMPACT Justice has sponsored training in Restorative Practices in 9 of the 13 CARICOM Member States.