TTUTA: Schools must be safe zone

News Sean Douglas 6 Hrs Ago

TTUTA president Crystal Ashe -

THE TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA), the teacher’s union, condemned any sexual misconduct perpetrated by school teachers on their pupils, in a statement to Newsday on December 22.

TTUTA president Crystal Ashe said schools must be safe zones for children.

Under the headline “Probe into touchy teachers,” Newsday on December 18 had reported 16 allegations of sexual abuse levelled against some five teachers in the 2024 Teaching Service Commission (TSC) annual report. In the report one primary school teacher had five allegations of abuse made against him, while another primary teacher was accused of two cases of abuse and another primary teacher accused of one incident of sexual misconduct.

At secondary school, one teacher was accused of one case of sexual misconduct, while another secondary teacher was accused of four matters of sexual misconduct. For multiple offenders the report did not say if it was one victim repeatedly abused or whether one teacher had multiple victims.

None of the five teachers are in court, with the matters simply before the TSC.

TTUTA told Newsday, “With respect to the TSC’s publication of teachers accused of sexual misconduct please note that TTUTA is very concerned about this situation.

“Our schools are and should always be safe zones for all who occupy them including students.”

In the statement, TTUTA said it could not comment on any specific matters as they were being addressed by the TSC at this time.

“We know that there are mechanisms in place with respect to the law and the TSC, with the assistance of the Ministry of Education to address all such occurrences.”

TTUTA advised all TSC members to adhere to the law.

“This would include but is not limited to the efficient and effective reporting of all cases of sexual misconduct.

“Our students are our future leaders and we all should work together to keep them safe.”