Mae’s Schools denies discriminating against student over indigenous wear
-after protestors urge apology, respect
Following widespread outrage, including a protest yesterday, over alleged discrimination against a primary-level student in indigenous dress by the staff of the Mae’s Schools, the institution has broken its silence on the incident and denied engaging in any discriminatory behaviour.
In a statement issued four days after the incident, the school yesterday disputed the account of the nine-year-old student’s parent, while also turning attention to the fact that there is no national policy regarding what is acceptable with regards to exposure of children.
“We recognize that our first duty is to look after the best interest of the children we serve. We are particularly conscious of fostering social cohesion and encouraging children to be proud of their heritage, as well as learning of the different ethnicities that make us one Guyanese family, hence the willingness to host Culture Day,” the statement said.
“There is, however, no clear cut national policy that is consistently enforced on what is acceptable in terms of exposure for BOTH boys and girls when representing our very diverse culture, especially in this climate where gender equality is being promoted, and specifically in a school environment. This incident lends itself to a larger discussion amongst schools and government entities about what truly is the acceptable social standard in our evolving country. In the meanwhile, we will continue our mission to provide quality education to our greatest assets, our students,” it added.
Last Friday, Karen Small, the mother of the affected student, made a Facebook post relating that her nine-year-old son had not been allowed to enter his school fully dressed in his indigenous wear and that staff, including the security guard, teachers, and the headmistress had stated that his attire was inappropriate. ch low of
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He wore no shirt and sported a beaded hain and a decorated head band, while his wer body was covered by a skirt made out f tibisiri. Small said she later dressed him in a tirt after the same sentiment about his outbeing “inappropriate” was communicated y her son’s class teacher. Small said, howver, that when she picked up her son later n, he was traumatized from the experience, he was taunted throughout the day by stuents. The school, however, challenged this count. “The mother was told at the gate that ere MAY be an issue with the fact that he as exposed, but he was nevertheless lowed to enter the school as-is. The stuent then ascended the stairs to continue to s classroom. However, we speculate that e may have been subject to gawking by udents, because shortly after he exited the hool building and met with his mother, ho helped him don a t-shirt already in her ossession,” the school countered. The statement added that no teachers ere engaged on the issue by Small or her n and that the child “settled into his classwithout incident.” “There was no crying or other discernible upset displayed by him that warranted the attention of the class teacher, Head Teacher or Administration of the school then or at any other time throughout the school day. The fact that this student is made the subject of national headlines is regrettable,” the school reported.
It also said that each class was expected to represent a particular ethnicity after they selected an option at random. It was said that the class the boy belonged to was expected to depict the Portuguese culture. It also claimed that the children were all advised to wear t-shirts, along with tights/shorts being worn under any clothing that would leave them exposed. This advice was said to have been passed through a verbal briefing which took place closer to the event.
But Small, responding to the statement last evening, said that she was guided by the letter sent to her home from the school, and opined that any additional advice should have been sent to the parents in writing if that were the case.
The letter, seen by this newspaper, plainly stated that “pupils will be allowed to dress in their cultural wear, depicting an ethnic group of their choice….” Apart from the date and the significance of the activity (Independence Day celebrations) nothing else was stated on the matter.
Small expressed disappointment and outrage at the statement released by the school, but at the same time she noted that she was not surprised that it did not accept culpability. She noted that it had been given an opportunity to apologize, but chose another route. She added that before the public release of the statement to the media, she had not been contacted by anyone at the school.
As a result of the situation, Small indicted that she would be removing her son from the school, where he has spent the last two