Hildren in schools here

when he first enrolled at St Gabriel’s Nursery School.

According to the mother, on her child’s third day of school he returned home and reported to her that his teacher hit him in the mouth and he didn’t understand why.

“On the first day, he happily went to school. On the second day, he didn’t want to enter the classroom, on the third day, the teacher hit him, broke his mouth, and hit his hand. My son told me, ‘Mom, the teacher hit me in the mouth, and I don’t know why’,” she recounted.

Gómez said that upon hearing this she immediately texted the teacher who related to her “that breakfast time had ended, and she asked the child to put away his food three times, but he didn’t obey and continued chewing”.

The distraught mother explained that her son didn’t understand English at the time. She continued that quickly went to talk to the principal and was told that “it was impossible, that the teacher was excellent, and had never had a problem. I showed her the text messages where the teacher admitted to hitting him. She said there must be a reason”.

Instead, Gómez was given another version of the story by the principal. Finding no satisfaction at the highest level of the school, she ventured to the police force and moved upwards, but to no avail.

“…. that my 3-year-old son was bothering the others, and she did this in defense of the other children... I went to the police, and they sent me to child protection. I went to child protection, and they sent me to the Ministry of Education. I went to the Ministry of Education, and all they did was transfer my son to another school. And that was it. No one did anything. No one defended my son”.

Gómez was eventually forced to enroll her son into a private institution, where he is receiving his education more peacefully. She is pleading for authorities to take these matters seriously and not brush them off with minimal consequences. She noted that the safety and mental well-being of her children and others in similar situations are at stake.

Meanwhile, the parents of the initial victim, whose name is Eliannys, have expressed that both they and their child are psychologically distressed. The parents also confirmed that they have met with Ministry of Education officials who promised to deal with the matter. Stabroek News (SN) also contacted Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussain yesterday and he related that he personally met with the parents and the victim.

According to a friend of both Eliannys and Daniela, a Brazilian student named Olivia, “the same girls who beat Eli [Eliannys], fought with me on the same day… on that same day they came asking for money from me, then one of them started arguing with me, and Eli defended me”. The young lady had related to Gómez that it was this incident that led to the five-on-one assault that was recorded and leaked on social media.

Subsequent to the phone call between Stabroek News and Hussain, a statement was released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on its Facebook page, informing that the investigations into the matter had concluded on Monday.

The notice said that Ministry investigated a physical assault on a female student at Queenstown Secondary School and took several actions including counseling, suspension, and transfers. They emphasized the importance of prioritizing student safety and well-being in schools and at home.

Gómez, who was present at the meeting with government officials, including Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, on Monday, described same as a “smokescreen… so they could say that they did something”. According to her, while Benn treated them kindly, nothing came of the matter.