Rising School Violence Demands Urgent National Action

Dear Editor,

In recent days, Guyanese have once again been confronted with disturbing images circulating widely online, this time involving students at Carmel Secondary School and a teacher who appeared to be assaulted while attempting to intervene in a fight. While the images themselves are shocking, what is far more troubling is that many citizens no longer seem surprised. That, in itself, is the clearest warning sign.

As President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union and APNU’s Shadow Minister of Education, I state unequivocally: violence in and around our schools is neither “normal behaviour,” nor “youthful mischief,” nor an issue to be managed through public relations. It is a direct and escalating threat to learning, to teacher morale and retention, and to the physical and psychological safety of both educators and students.

This concern does not arise in isolation. The Ministry of Education has previously acknowledged serious incidents involving students attached to Charity Secondary School and 8th of May Secondary School in Region Two. In addition, recent reporting has documented cases in which educators have been targeted and intimidated beyond the school gate, including the widely reported incident at New Campbellville Secondary where a teacher was subjected to online attacks and had their home vandalised. These events, taken together, point to a deeply troubling trend.

What we are witnessing are not random acts, but symptoms of a wider and worsening breakdown, a decline in discipline, personal responsibility, and respect for basic social norms. When students perceive that there are no meaningful consequences for misconduct, when parents rationalise or excuse violent behaviour, and when schools are left without adequate support systems to intervene early, violence becomes predictable. Once violence becomes predictable, it becomes contagious.

This crisis, however, does not begin or end at the school gate. Our children observe, daily, the tone set in the wider society. They absorb what is rewarded, what is tolerated, and what rules are enforced or ignored.

It is therefore impossible to ignore the broader national context in which public confidence in institutions is repeatedly tested. In recent days, the country has also witnessed controversy surrounding the Speaker of the National Assembly and the prolonged delay in convening a constitutionally necessary meeting, followed by escalating public exchanges and widespread condemnation. Regardless of political affiliation, a fundamental principle must be upheld: when institutions appear casual about rules, procedures, and timeliness, society becomes casual about rules, procedures, and timeliness. When authority appears inconsistent, selective, or reluctant to act, respect for authority erodes and our classrooms feel the consequences.

The question, then, is not whether there is a problem, but what must be done, now. 

First, Guyana urgently requires a National School Safety and Behaviour Framework that is publicly articulated, uniformly applied, and consistently enforced. Every school must operate under clear protocols governing fights, threats, weapons, intrusions, and assaults, with consequences that are known, fair, and predictable.

Second, educators must be properly supported. Teachers affected by violent incidents must have access to counselling, trauma support, and clear legal and administrative guidance. No teacher should ever feel abandoned after being harmed in the line of duty.

Third, early-intervention mechanisms must be strengthened in every region, including trained counsellors, social workers, and community-based professionals capable of addressing behavioural issues before they escalate into violence.

Fourth, there must be parental accountability and meaningful consequences not selective discipline, not quiet transfers that merely relocate the problem, and certainly not “talk and done” responses that signal indifference.

Finally, Guyana needs a sustained national effort to rebuild respect: respect for teachers, respect for classmates, respect for public property, and respect for lawful authority. This effort must be reinforced at home, in communities, in schools, and, critically, through the example set by national leadership.

Let us be clear: education cannot thrive in a climate of fear. No curriculum reform, no new infrastructure program, and no examination strategy will succeed in a culture where teachers are treated as expendable and learning is repeatedly disrupted by intimidation and disorder.

Guyana must decide what it truly values. If we value education, then educators must be protected, students must be supported through firm and fair intervention, and discipline must be anchored in justice and the rule of law. And if we value the rule of law, then our national institutions must model it consistently and transparently so that our children learn that rules matter everywhere, not only when they are convenient.

Yours truly,
Coretta McDonald
Member of Parliament
APNU