Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Science and Technology the Hon. Chester Cooper commented on a shooting incident that occurred on Monday that left a teenage student seriously injured.
Cooper told reporters on Tuesday that he has made contact with the family of the victim. He said, “whilst this event did not happen in a school, we’re still very concerned. We’ve expressed concern with the family, our thoughts and our prayers. I understand the student had been in hospital all night and we do not have a specific update at this time. Suffice it to say our ministry will continue to reach out with authorities and with the families and wish them hopefully a speedy recovery for the student, but the reality is that when these incidents happen they have a cascading impact on the school community. And we seek to offer counselling, guidance, support to the students, their friends, families and the entire school community.”
The minister was also questioned on the ministry’s efforts to address truancy, considering that the shooting occurred during school hours. Cooper said, “there is a system and it works reasonably well. Suffice it to say, systems only work as well as the people involved. Therefore, we call on everyone who are involved with the lives of students to be engaged. That’s the teachers, the principals, and of course the parents, and of course the community, because the reality is that if you see a student during school hours not at school, in the community milling about, for example, I think there can be some intervention by the community themselves.”
