Ten students who took turns beating a classmate have been suspended from the El Dorado West Secondary and would be sent for rehabilitation at the Learning Enhancement Centre, in Couva.
The incident which took place nearly two weeks ago, was videotaped and shared on social media, was yet another case of violence among school children.
The attack depicted in the two-minute, four-second video reportedly filmed on October 26, captured the victim being threatened and pushed before the group of female students begin punching and kicking her. She was kicked in the head by one of the attackers. Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan said yesterday the victim of the fight received counselling and had returned to school without any problems.
He said that the ministry continued to provide ongoing support for all the students involved.
Speaking on the issue as they attended a signing ceremony at the Caribbean Dockyard and Engineering Services Limited, Chaguaramas - Education Minister Anthony Garcia said he would meet with the parents of the 10 students on Tuesday.
Both Seecharan and Garcia said that strategies were being implemented to minimise and eliminate such acts of violence including stricter monitoring by principals and school supervisors.
A week ago, Minister in the Ministry Dr Lovell Francis expressed concern about the brutality of the attack as he said corrective measures had been introduced immediately in the aftermath of attack.
Francis said El Dorado West Secondary was one of the better functioning government schools that continued to do very well academically, and the incident was an isolated one which does not reflect the school’s true potential.