TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) Tobago officer Bradon Roberts is calling for more action and less talk from the policy-makers on the island.
Roberts was speaking with Newsday after Monday’s report that a Glamorgan man had been arrested and was assisting police in their investigation, after the alleged assault and rape of a 14-year-old student.
Police reports said shortly after 8am, the student stopped a PH taxi driver to go to school, but the driver made a detour to another location, where the student was beaten and raped. The source said according to the child, she was then dropped off on the road near her school.
Newsday understands her relatives were contacted and she was taken to the Scarborough General Hospital, where she was treated. Investigations are ongoing.
Contacted on the issue, Roberts said, “It is something to be annoyed and angry about. It is not about the nice talk. We need to hold people who say they are going to come and make a difference to their word.”
He said from where he sits, education is not meeting the needs of society, noting that education is life.
“We have a school system where we capture some, we don’t capture all. Those who we don’t capture in large numbers turn out to be a menace to society and every day we’re living and we seem to be ticking off each day as a successful day and not really dealing with the matters.”
But he insisted: “We have to make a change, and a lot of persons have been advocating for a change in how we educate our people, how we engage the community, even within partnering schools and the community adopt-a-school programmes. There are several things that has been discussed.”
Asked about counselling for the victim, he said: “I don’t know what counselling could really bring back the innocence of the sense of the child. Counselling may help dealing with the trauma and so and regaining the confidence, but that is a steep hill to climb, and then too often we sensationalise things. Something happens today, we have a lot of coverage on it, and we leave our policy-makers to do nothing about it. And then when it happens again we have another media rounds.”
THA Secretary of Education, Research and Technology Zorisha Hackett could not be reached, as all calls and messages went unanswered. THA Secretary of Health Wellness and Social Protection Dr Faith BYisrael could not be reached for comment either.
This story was originally published with the title, '14-year-old schoolgirl beaten, raped in Tobago' and was updated to include additional details. See the original story below.
A GLAMORGAN man has been arrested and is assisting police in their investigation, following the rape of a 14-year-old student in Tobago on June 10.
A police source told Newsday that the student stopped a PH taxi driver around 8 am, with the intention of being taken to school, however, the driver made a detour to another location where the student was beaten and raped.
The source said the child was dropped off on the road near her school.
Newsday understands that her
