The Tobago Region of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) is calling for a full-scale investigation into comments allegedly made by a teacher at a school in Tobago.

In a video recording lasting one minute 38 seconds, a man believed to be a secondary schoolteacher, is heard expressing frustration over the behaviour of his students.

The male voice can be heard telling the students he will not waste any more time on them, as he no longer knew how to control them. He told them life would deal with them and said he would advise other teachers not to waste time teaching them as well.

Speaking with Newsday on Monday, president of the association Joseph Lindow said the details of the video remain “speculatory.”

However, he added, “I think that is a situation that needs urgent and careful attention. We don’t know what would have caused the particular person to behave in the manner he would have behaved. We don’t know if there was a part of the entire event that was left out. I’m not sure.”

He added, however: “That is unacceptable and from the PTA point of view, we would do everything in our power to investigate.”

He said the PTA is looking into the situation to understand what happened that day, and he has spoken to THA Secretary of Education, Research and Technology Zorisha Hackett.

“She has given me the assurance that they are treating with the situation.

"It is something that I wouldn’t want to get out of hand. I would like to know the full content of what actually triggered the action of the teacher and how we can prevent situations like that from reoccurring.”

He said it is definitely not a good thing to have teachers behaving in that way.

“We already know how students are behaving.

"I don’t know if it could have been a situation where students were behaving badly or if it was something other than that – a reoccurrence with the said teacher – and all these things we need to take into consideration.”

He said the PTA already has a lot to deal with when comes to indiscipline, but teachers are trained to manage their classrooms and should have a better idea of how to deal with a situation like that.

Newsday tried several times to contact Hackett, but all calls and messages to her cellphone were unanswered.

President of the Tobago Youth Council Dayreon Mitchell said the council is looking into the matter and will issue a statement soon.

TTUTA Tobago officer Bradon Roberts implored teachers to protect their mental health.

Issues of indiscipline and violence have reared their head in Tobago recently.

On February 16, a stabbing incident was reported at Signal Hill Secondary School which resulted in one student being hospitalised with serious injuries. In a 32-second video, which went viral on social media, a male student was seen stabbing a classmate with an object while other students shouted in the background.

At a February 21 stakeholders' meeting, Signal Hill principal Arianne D’Abreau-Forde called for a collaborative approach to addressing school violence, with input from parents, st