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Justice Nadia Kangaloo - SCHOOLS have a solemn legal duty to ensure the safety and welfare of students, the High Court ruled in a landmark decision that held the state liable for injuries suffered by a 15-year-old girl during a violent assault at a secondary school in 2017.
Justice Nadia Kangaloo delivered the judgment, which concluded that Couva West Secondary School breached its statutory and common-law duties of care when it failed to prevent or adequately respond to repeated bullying incidents that culminated in a brutal attack, leaving the victim permanently disabled.
The teen was assaulted twice in one day on school premises by two fellow students, one of whom had a documented history of bullying her. She sustained head trauma, post-concussion syndrome, chronic pain, and a 20 per cent permanent partial disability. The court’s ruling noted that her injuries were foreseeable and preventable, given the school’s prior knowledge of the aggressor’s behaviour.
“The court finds that the claimant was in the custody of the state both practically and statutorily when the assault occurred,” Justice Kangaloo said.
“To excuse the state would allow known student-on-student violence to persist without intervention.”
The claimant was represented by attorney Chankar Persadsingh and Nicola Joseph of the firm Dipnarine Rampersad and Company, while the state was represented by Mary Davis and Nairob Smart.
In a wide-ranging oral ruling, Justice Kangaloo cited both domestic law – including Section 27 of the Education Act – and international human rights principles, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to reinforce the state's obligation to protect children in its care.
“A school owes a duty of care to take such care for the health and safety of a child as is reasonable in all the circumstances.
“At the end of the day, all that this court can do is encourage, through this judgment, systemic reform.”
There is, she stressed, a solemn duty on the part of the state to “safeguard children's physical safety and their access to a secure educational environment.
“The facts of this case illustrates precisely why that duty has to be more than aspirational. A15-year-old student under the state's care, within her school, was subject to violence that, in this court's opinion, was entirely foreseeable and preventable.
“The court's findings in this matter underscore that when institutional safeguards such as disciplinary systems, supervision, and follow-up are not meaningfully and genuinely implemented, children suffer profound and long-lasting harm.
“The court reiterates that children are not mere subjects of bureaucratic policy. They're human beings. They're entitled to respect, to learning, and protection.”
In finding the state liable, Justice Kangaloo noted glaring lapses in security, supervision, and post-incident follow-up in the Couva West Secondary incident.
She noted that even the then-acting vice principal admitted under cross-examination that he was unaware the student had been struck in the head with a metal chair, despite receiving her report stating exactly that.
“This was not a sudden or unforeseeable event,” Kangaloo ruled. “The known risk and the school’s failure to act represent a systemic breakdown, not an isolated lapse.
“This was not a spontaneous fight between unknown aggressors.”
She said not only did the evidence of the school’s vice principal point to negligence, but it also pointed to a “troubling lack of diligence in the care and protection of students.”
Justice Kangaloo accepted that schools were not expected to be omnipresent nor flawless, but she maintained, they must act diligently and proactively, especially in high-risk environments.
“I do not blame any one individual,” Justice Kangaloo said. “But institutional accountability must be the standard.”
Girl attacked while seeking principal's help
According to the evidence in the case, the then-teenager, who requested anonymity, said she and a friend were in the corridor of one of the school blocks during lunch when she was struck on the head with a metal chair and punched by another girl who had a history of bullying her.
A second girl kicked and punched her while she was on the ground, and the two aggressors attacked her again while she attempted to get help at the principal’s office.
In her lawsuit, the claimant said there was a history of bullying by one of the girls, which had been reported to the school’s authorities. The two aggressors were also named in the lawsuit, and a judgment had been entered against them on a previous occasion.
“To set a particular standard is not to create a demand for omnipresence or perfection on the part of the defendant…There are measures to reasonably implement and act on what were existing protocols, particularly in a school with an unfortunate but known history of violent incidents.
"With prior bullying, prior incidents, and a high-risk environment…It must act with diligence.
“To excuse the state would set a precedent in the instant case. It would also allow known student-on-student violence to persist without any intervention and deny relief to a minor who suffered, in this court's opinion, a career-altering injury due to in-school repeat assaults.”
In her reasons, Justice Kangaloo said making a finding of liability would “encourage schools to do what they already claim to do, implement safety policies, investigate accidents, follow up on complaints, and protect vulnerable students.”
According to the judge, the failure of the state, through its agents, to act on clear warning signs and to respond with appropriate supervision and investigation cannot be seen as a mere lapse but a breach of duty.
“The foreseeability of the harm in the incident case combined with the failure to act on known risks, in this court's opinion, renders the first defendant liable.
“Let me remind the parties that the applicable standard is reasonableness and not perfection, and what is reasonable must be assessed in light of the foreseeability of the harm, the non-disciplinary environment of the school, and the specific factual context in the incident case, including the claimant's history of being bullied by the same aggressor…
"The school had an affirmative obligation to safeguard student welfare, which required, in the incident case, more than reactive measures.
“There are certain matters that the state could have taken in hand based on these obligations, including preventative action based on the prior complaints, adequate supervision at the time and place of the assault, ensuring that there were functioning security systems as well as reporting, and ensuring that the claimant received both timely medical and psychosocial follow-up.”
In this case, she added, “A proper investigation after the incident was not taken, and that was something that needed to be paid attention to.
“Again, the court stresses that while every student's safety matters, it's not every playground shove or lunchtime squabble that would become a matter that would engage this court.”
She said liability comes into focus when “the harm is serious, the risk is foreseeable, and the response is systemically inadequate.”
“This court has been constrained to walk a careful line in balancing the protection of injured students, not overwhelming school staff, or indeed discouraging teaching through the fear of litigation.
The court, nonetheless, considers, in all of the circumstances of this case, that the first defendant is in fact in breach of both its common law and statutory duties, and so considers that it will use this ruling to demonstrate that there must be institutional responsibility.”
Judge: Students dreams derailed by attack
In assessing compensation, Justice Kangaloo awarded the claimant $175,000 in general damages, $45,290 in special damages to cover medical expenses, medication, transportation and past lost earnings, as well as $40,000 for future loss of earnings.
“The court finds, based on the evidence before it, that her education was derailed and that she was unable to complete her secondary schooling or pursue her dream of becoming a geriatric nurse…
"If you have a young adult or a teenager who has fixed their mind admirably on a career, they should be compensated to some extent for having done so…In delivering this judgment, the court has reaffirmed that solemn duty on the state to safeguard children's physical safety and their access to a secure educational environment.
“The facts of this case illustrate precisely why that duty has to be more than aspirational,” the judge said as she quoted a lyric from the late Ras Shorty I’s Watch out my children.
“It speaks now to our communal responsibility and vigilance. Let this serve not only as a cultural invocation from this court, but a solemn reminder. We must remain alert, especially when our young are vulnerable, as they clearly are these days.
“It is incumbent on us all, government, educators, caregivers, society, to act with the diligence, compassion, and foresight required to uphold the rights and dignity of every child who walks through our school gates.”
In June, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar assured the government was adopting a strong stance against school violence. Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro also issued a message to parents, promising that the police will deal with wayward children if they do not.
“I want to make you a promise here today: if you cannot control your children, we, the TTPS (TT Police Service), will confine them.”
In July, five students were charged with assaulting a form four Holy Faith Convent, Couva student outside the school on June 10. That attack followed a similar incident on a form-five student of South East Port of Spain Secondary School. It was this attack that prompted the prime minister to warn of the consequences of criminal behaviour.
“I will prioritise the rights and protection of the majority of students who want to learn and not the minority who want to disrupt their schools with violence.
"I remind students and parents that anyone who engages in violence, threats, intimidation, drug dealing, extortion and bullying will be charged. We will purge our schools of this behaviour by any and all means legally available. The country is fed up with this violence and wickedness in our schools and our society."
English (US) ·