In Brief
- PNM Pushes Back: The PNM has rejected PM Persad-Bissessar’s claim that it did ‘nothing’ to protect students and teachers from school violence.
- Dismantled Support Systems: Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said the UNC government dismantled the PNM’s 2023 Remedial Education Policy and Student Support Services by not renewing hundreds of staff contracts.
- Rising Violence: She cited TTPS statistics showing reported school fights rose from 27 in 2025 to 36 so far in 2026, blaming the gap left by depleted support staff.
- Equity Concerns: Gadsby-Dolly warned that removing remedial programmes, School Safety Officers, and Student Aides disproportionately harms vulnerable students and undermines equity in education.
By Alicia Chamely
The People’s National Movement is refuting accusations by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar that it has done “nothing and will continue to do nothing” to protect students and teachers from undisciplined and violent students.
On Tuesday evening, Persad-Bissessar, via her social media, stated, “TTUTA, NPTA and the PNM have done nothing and will continue to do nothing to keep our teachers and children safe from violent students and parents in our schools. These three groups complained about police being used to protect our teachers and children in schools and are now fighting to keep violent, out-of-control, abusive students inside our schools to continue terrorising and brutalising our teachers and students.”
Speaking with AZP News on Wednesday, Opposition Member of Parliament for St Ann’s East Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly refuted the Prime Minister’s claims, stating the PNM had put a series of remedial, student support, staff training and disciplinary initiatives in place during its tenure, which the United National Congress had since dismantled.
Gadsby-Dolly said that in 2023 the PNM implemented the Remedial Education Policy, which provided educational and psychological support to students through the Student Support Services, comprising social workers, guidance counsellors, remedial classes and support, and restorative practices in schools.
She said the policy worked “synergistically” to improve school discipline and success.
However, Gadsby-Dolly said the initiative was dismantled not by the PNM, but by the UNC.
She said, “The UNC met this programme in place, renewed no contracts, effectively dismantling the programme as the staff is depleted by the hundreds.”
“And today, this is what the police are saying: school violence is up for 2026 over 2025,” she said, referencing statistics from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), which showed reported school fights increasing from 27 in 2025 to 36 for 2026 thus far.
Gadsby-Dolly said, “The UNC is dismantling the Student Support Services Division, and the TTPS is apparently trying to fill the gap. But they don’t have the trained personnel… it is not possible.
“The Prime Minister is not only speaking simplistically, but she is also presiding over the systematic removal of a support system that has existed for over 20 years to help those most vulnerable, which are closely linked to those of lower socio-economic means and those with learning disabilities and family issues,” she added.
Gadsby-Dolly said it was also under the UNC government that the Military-Led Academic Training Programme (MiLAT) was removed, and that the government had failed to reopen the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme.
Commenting, she said, “These are all residential institutions that would have functioned to rehabilitate students that needed to be removed from the mainstream education sector.”
Gadsby-Dolly said, “Therefore, the Prime Minister is basically resigning at-risk students to certain failure by removing the options for support and transformation. This approach will be sure to reduce the number of students that can achieve social mobility and break the cycle of poverty and dysfunction.”
Regarding teachers, Gadsby-Dolly said, “Teachers don’t need talk. They need support in the schools by a robust Student Support Services Division. They need School Safety Officers. They need BOAs. They need Student Aides. They need the hundreds of staff that the UNC has sent home with unrenewed contracts.”
Gadsby-Dolly said data had shown a “vast majority of students needed [support] to succeed academically.”
She said between 2022 and 2025, over 460 Student Aides were hired through a partnership with the On the Job Training Programme (OJT) to assist students and serve as aides.
Gadsby-Dolly said that under the UNC government, “Approximately 400 supplied from OJT have been removed from the system. What is the position of these children who cannot attend school without an aide? I guess they too should stay home?”
She said that given the data on students needing help, removing remedial programmes and class aides removed equity in education.
“We cannot continue to celebrate the few that perform excellently. While we are happy for them, we simply ignore the majority that need help,” she said. “That is what equity of educational opportunity means: helping those who need help at the point of their need.”
Addressing the statements from the Prime Minister and the current discourse around the education system, Gadsby-Dolly warned, “The failure of the Ministry of Education that the Prime Minister is presiding over, and trying to distract from by her statements, is going to cost this country dearly in the near and medium future.”
