School safety officers will meet with Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh today at the Rudranath Capildeo Learning Resource Centre, Couva, at 8 am to discuss job security, better salaries and proper working conditions. The meeting comes more than a week after 14-year-old Renaldo Dixon was stabbed to death at the Waterloo High School after a dispute with a classmate. In an interview yesterday, a safety officer, who requested anonymity, said they were under attack and needed better protection from the ministry.
Officers who work on month-to-month contracts, have complained of being exploited, the officer said. He said over the past year, seven safety officers had been stabbed by delinquent pupils. “We have asked for walk-through scanners in schools. The level of indiscipline we had in the past regime has increased and we have no control now,” the source added. He said when the programme was launched in 2004 by former education minister Hazel Manning, officers were given three-year contracts.
In 2010 when the People’s Partnership took office, the safety officers were placed on monthly contracts. He said because of the uncertainty with job security, many of them had left their posts.
The source added that only 120 safety officers were assigned to schools, compared to 300-plus in 2004. He also noted that safety officers were offered a contract in October but were given a day to sign it.
“This is against best industrial relations practices. They told us that if we did not sign then we will lose the opportunity to work,” the source said The source added that the Estate Police Association and the T&T Unified Teachers’ Association were aware of the problem but had not been able to negotiate favourable packages. Contacted yesterday, TTUTA’s general secretary, Peter Wilson, said the association was concerned about the issues relating to the safety officers but was not the recognised bargaining unit.
“TTUTA’s position is that there must a meeting with all stakeholders to discuss this issue,” Wilson said. However, he added, TTUTA was not in favour of armed patrols in schools. Gopeesingh could not be reached for comment yesterday as calls to his cellphone went unanswered. However, in an earlier interview, he said full-body scanners would be placed in high-risk schools because of the recent spike in violence.