Classes to resume at Anchovy High following attack on teacher by female students

WESTERN BUREAU:

Classes are slated to resume on Campus One at Anchovy High School in St James today, following yesterday's suspension in the wake of an incident in which the dean of discipline was attacked by a group of girls. He suffered a serious injury to his face.

According to Calvin G. Brown, chairman of the school's board of governors, during a meeting at the school yesterday - which was attended by members of the school's board of management, the Ministry of Education, the police and the academic staff - the specific incident and other recent acts of indiscipline were discussed and various decisions taken.

"The matter was properly ventilated and the teachers, who were obviously not pleased with the general state of indiscipline, were given a chance to express their concerns and make suggestions," said Brown. "At the end of the day, a decision was taken for classes to resume tomorrow (Wednesday). All students, including those implicated in the incident, are expected back at school."

Brown said the incident will be properly investigated and a report submitted to the personnel committee of the board, who will examine the various reports and take the necessary action.

"While we understand the concerns of the teachers, especially since the dean, who was hit in his face with a stone, could have lost and eye, we can't just act on emotion, we have to follow due process," said Brown. "Hopefully, at the end of the day, the appropriate action will be taken."

UGLY BRAWL

According to reports, a group of girls got involved in an ugly brawl and the dean of discipline intervened. He was reportedly attacked by the all-girl mob. During the melee, he was struck in his face with a stone and had to receive medical attention.

In regards to the general state of indiscipline at the school, the chairman said a committee is now in place and tasked to come up with suitable recommendations to address some of the issues, especially a spate of violent incidents involving girls.

"Before this incident, we had three different intervention programmes going on in the school, but by the looks of things, we need to add other measures," said Brown. "On Thursday, we will be having an emergency parent-teacher association meeting to get the input of the parents."

The incident, which did not affect operations at the school's Fidel Castro Campus, where the school's grade seven and eight students attend classes, was videotaped by unknown persons and posted on the Internet.