CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC):

The St Lucia Teachers Union (SLTU) yesterday said it was alarmed at the increased number of sexual abuse allegations being made against teachers.

SLTU General Secretary Wayne Cumberbatch said that the union viewed the allegations very seriously and was prepared to work with the relevant authorities to deal with the situation.

Officials of the Ministry of Education have said they are investigating the claims made by both male and female students.

"We are very concerned about reports of increased incidents but were not informed of any. If this is happening, we are ready to work with the ministry to stamp this out as the association is very committed to ensuring that our education is free from those problems," he said.

Several reports

In a statement yesterday, the ministry said that last year it had received eight reports of sexual abuse and that the issue was raised at the general meeting of the principals' association on the weekend.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Dr Rufina Frederick, said incidents of teachers having sex with students were on the increase and that some principals were sweeping the matter under the carpet.

She said that while there were counsellors in every secondary school to assist affected students, dealing with the situation can be difficult.

But Cumberbatch said that there is a code that speaks to the behaviour of teachers and their relationship with the students, "and we will work with the authorities to ensure that we eradicate such incidents of abuse from the system".

Unfortunate

He described as "unfortunate" the statement made by the senior education official, saying that it "casts a doubt and a negative image over the system".

"We think that if you are doing to deal with such a sensitive issue, it should be handled on a case-by-case basis rather than making blanket statements," he said.