Erica Virtue, Staff Reporter
THE Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) wants the Government to set up a permanent rehabilitation centre for children who display anti-social behaviour in schools.
The suggestion by the JTA, which represents the majority of teachers islandwide, has received support from the two major Opposition political parties and has not been ruled out by the current Ministry of Education.
The JTA's position comes against the background of reports indicating a series of violent behaviour by children in several schools throughout the country, in which teachers and other students have been physically harmed. The anti-social and violent behaviour by students has also resulted in physical and verbal abuse to people outside the school environment.
While acknowledging that the Government's current "Time Out" facility is a stepping stone towards assisting some children, the JTA said that where that fails, the Government should be prepared to move to the next step.
"An in-house treatment facility is not a prison. And it should be in conjunction with what is now in place under the (Time Out) facility," JTA Secretary General Dr. Adolph Cameron told The Sunday Gleaner last week.
"But what we (JTA) are saying is that you should not wait until some students fail to benefit. We believe that the Government should actively investigate and consider setting up a rehabilitation centre where everything else fails."
Under the Time Out facility, which was announced by Minister of Education Burchell Whiteman last year, children displaying anti-social behaviour would be placed into a special programme at their schools, in which they worked with guidance counsellors to improve their behaviour.
Approval
The JTA's call for the permanent rehabilitation centre for these children has received the approval of both the Government and Opposition parties, although they have different ideas on how to proceed.
Information Officer at the Ministry of Education, Edwin Thomas, said the Ministry was not against the establishment of such a facility, but added that institutionalisation of unruly children was not its major focus at this time.
"There won't be any objection to such a facility if this is the decision taken by the experts in the area," Mr. Thomas said last week. "This may be what is needed by some to correct current unacceptable behaviour patterns by some students. So it is not excluded and it can't be excluded from what is being considered now. But it is not a major component of the current focus."
He said the Time Out facility under way in schools was aimed at identifying the problems early and working on them to prevent them developing later.
Meanwhile, Opposition Spokesman on Education Senator Anthony Johnson said the size of the problems remain unknown because no assessment is being done to determine the causes.
"I want to see an assessment done, beginning with the children coming into schools this year. This will give us an idea right away, so that they do not get lumped into a barrel as problem children," Mr. Johnson said. "But with current behaviour problems being exhibited, if the diagnosis is for removal for in-house treatment, then the Opposition has no problems with that."
The National Democratic Movement's Spokesman on Education Hyacinth Bennett supported the position. She said that the nation's children must be rescued with "deliberate, hands on, and tough no-nonsense approaches."
