Stress relief coming for Pembroke Hall High

A raft of stress-mitigation strategies are set to be rolled out at Pembroke Hall High School a week after a teacher threatened to murder a student during a two-minute tirade.

During yesterday’s meeting at the Ministry of Education’s Heroes Circle headquarters between the school board and stand-in minister Karl Samuda said stress-management programmes were crucial to teacher support and defusing classroom conflicts.

The board also requested additional infrastructural support, The Gleaner understands.

They were given a commitment by Minister Samuda to provide the needed support.

“We will provide professional development programmes, including a stress-management component for members of staff. A parent-inclusion programme will be rolled out at the school. In addition, we will provide additional infrastructural support. This will include classrooms, a dedicated smart room to assist with specialist interventions at the school, as well as equipment to support their TVET programme,” said Samuda, referring to technical vocation education and training.

There was no indication if the fate of the embattled teacher, Marsha Lee Crawford, had been discussed.

The teacher in question has reportedly been sent on leave to allow for a thorough investigation.

Other issues involved

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) said that while it did not condone the teacher’s conduct, there are several other issues in the lead-up to the incident that must be probed.

JTA President Owen Speid said that the JTA was ready to offer counselling support to Crawford.

School principal the Rev Claude Ellis has maintained that Pembroke Hall would adhere to the code of regulations governing disciplinary protocol.

Yesterday’s board meeting was convened a day after Prime Minister Andrew Holness added his voice to the debate.

Holness said that Crawford, who was caught on camera threatening the student with violence last Thursday, was in need of support, adding that the education ministry was seeking to deliver that assistance.

The video of the teacher’s tirade, which went viral late last Thursday, has divided the nation, stoking public outrage and drawing sympathy. In a leaked voice note, the teacher later explained that she “lost it”.

However, Holness said the teacher’s behaviour should not be condoned.

“What I see is a lot of compromise,” the prime minister said during an interview on Nationwide News yesterday, noting that while he was sympathetic to classroom conditions, teachers held “ultimate” responsibility.

“It starts with them and it ends with them,” Holness told Nationwide News on Tuesday.