Students' rights and the Constitution
Published:Wednesday | January 2, 2019 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Education Minister Ruel Reid is set to intervene in the case of a 13-year-old boy who has been blocked from classes at the Little London High School since November for allegedly using expletives in the presence of a teacher (The Gleaner, Monday, December 31, 2018).
This is not a case of the school's administration making a bad decision in essentially denying the student access to an education: the school's principal and board are in violation of the child's constitutional rights and they should be brought before the courts. Given that a number of failed attempts were made to seek redress from the Ministry of Education, Ruel Reid should also be made to answer.
Some principals and school boards (and the ministry) seem to be lost on the issue of the impact of the Constitution on school governance. Disciplinary action in response to a student's misbehaviour (no matter how egregious) should never contravene a child's constitutional rights. A child does not surrender her/his constitutional protections upon entering the school compound. If the rules and regulations of our schools and the Education Act are not anchored by the provisions of the Constitution, we will continue to violate the rights of those who participate in our education system.
Does the minister understand that he oversees a system that has been broken in so many different places? If he sees this case as unacceptable, why was there no redress prior to now? Is the system so configured that the minister invariably gets the opportunity to be the 'saviour?' What of the people entrusted with the responsibility to protect the rights of our children, both in and outside the Ministry of Education (Child Protection Agency)?
School reform is not just about curriculum, instruction, and evaluation, so let's take this process to a higher level so we can justly say, "it is well with Ruel!"
Dr Richard Kitson-Walters
Sandy Bay, Clarendon