Prime Minister Holness Announces Comprehensive Measures to Address Escalating School Violence
“Given that there is this underlying change in the behaviour of our youth, I have directed the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Education to do a reassessment of the security risk of schools so that way we can get a better understanding of which schools are at risk and how to direct resources to those schools”
– Prime Minister Holness
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Prime Minister Andrew Holness has taken decisive action in response to the number of reported incidents of school violence across Jamaica. Prime Minister Holness says the situation requires urgent strategic action to bring the matter under control.
Prime Minister Holness on Wednesday (May 15) directed the Ministries of National Security and Education Youth to conduct a thorough reassessment of the security risks within schools.
“Given that there is this underlying change in the behaviour of our youth, I have directed the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Education to do a reassessment of the security risk of schools so that way we can get a better understanding of which schools are at risk and how to direct resources to those schools,” said Prime Minister Holness.
Prime Minister Holness also announced that more case managers have been assigned to schools.
“We have already started to increase the number of case managers that would be available for community interventions and school interventions through the Ministry of National Security. We’re going to increase the number of school resource officers and the School Resource Officer Programme has been very effective, but from time to time, depending on the intensity of implementation, sometimes schools get resource officers and sometimes they don’t. What we’re going to seek to do now, after the conduct of this new assessment of the school, is to increase the numbers and then redirect some of these officers to those schools with the highest risk,” said Prime Minister Holness.
The Prime Minister was speaking during a meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister, OPM, with the Custos of Manchester Lt. Col the Hon. Garfield Green who is championing the values and attitudes initiative in schools.
Prime Minister Holness cited a fundamental shift in the behaviour of Jamaican youth which has resulted in the increased incidents of violence in schools.
The Prime Minister also noted that urgent measures have been implemented to review entry and search policies in all schools, with a focus on detecting and confiscating weapons, particularly knives. The government will also bolster social intervention programmes, engaging parents in conflict resolution strategies and address underlying issues such as bullying and gang culture.
In the meantime, the Prime Minister highlighted the critical role of community engagement and commended initiatives such as the Belief Values and Attitudes Initiative spearheaded by Custos Green. This initiative, leveraging the involvement of Justices of the Peace, seeks to foster peaceful conflict resolution among youth.