A secondary school student was rushed to the hospital after he came under a cutlass attack in Castries on Wednesday.
Education Minister Shawn Edward condemned the incident in an interview with reporters.
He disclosed that an investigation revealed that a feud between two students had led to a fight in the capital.
“The Chief Education Officer proceeded to the hospital to ascertain what happened, and later yesterday evening, she was able to confirm that a child was assaulted and he was at the hospital receiving treatment,” Edward stated.
According to reports, the incident occurred near the Bexon bus stand.
One woman said she learned that the victim was awaiting a bus when two males with no masks and wearing no school uniforms launched the cutlass attack.
She recalled that no one took notice until blood started flowing.
“They cut the boy because he raise his hands,” the woman told reporters.
She said the victim sustained a cut to his hand.
“There are so many people; all the bus drivers are there. Somebody could have said something. They could have at least hold the boy from the back that swung the cutlass. No one said nothing until one of the bus drivers said, ‘They will behave theyself,'” the woman told reporters.
“What if was your son?” She asked, blaming the chopping incident on an ongoing feud involving the Sixx and Seven gangs.
“They go and take they gang from Trinidad and they bring it in Saint Lucia,” the woman told reporters.
She declared that no one is safe.
“If you talking to a Sixx member, they want to kill you. If you talking to a Seven member, they want to kill you. But what I saw there yesterday, it was appalling,” she stated.
“The boy school shirt, the top of it is dry, but the bottom is soaked, so I assumed he got chop all on his waist,” the woman recalled.
Education Minister Shawn Edward said his Ministry categorically condemns acts of violence involving students, regardless of whether skirmishes occur on the school compound or away from school.
“We have a responsibility to nurture students as best we can within the school environment, but we have constantly been calling on civil society organisations; we have been calling on families to play a greater role in the orientation that we give as a country to our children,” Edward asserted.
“Violence is not something that children should turn to to resolve whatever conflicts they may have, and so as a Ministry, we have summoned some of the agencies with whom we collaborate to an emergency meeting to see how best we can address some of the situations as they surface,” the Minister told reporters.
At the same time, Edward revealed that the Ministry was working with the police to ensure that lawbreaking students get prosecuted.
In addition, the Minister spoke of stepping up psychosocial services in select schools to assist students.
He observed that young, restless students were imitating the behaviour they see in adults.
In this regard, Edward appealed to parents to take responsibility for their children’s actions.
He acknowledged the existence of dysfunctional families and broken homes.
“So we will go the extra mile to work with the students who are coming from those families, but by and large we want parents to take responsibility for the actions of their children,” Edward explained.
“Do not give up on the children too early because when we do, as responsible adults, the children will invariably reach out and look in the direction of elements in the society that are not favourable as mentors and role models,” he told reporters.
In this regard, the Minister said the children would want to imitate what those ‘undesirable characters’ practice to gain acceptance and validation.
Just last week, the police began a probe into a chopping incident at the Ciceron Secondary School in which two students sustained injuries that required treatment at the hospital.
The children are going to school hungry and angry as most of their parents earn 3 to 5 EC dollars an hour . The government need to enact a wage rate so parents could afford to send the children to school
What has been crooked”, cannot be straighten”,and the suitation has to be moniterd..
Those children are unwanted pregnancies, rebelles from birth and the LORD’S curse is upon them,if they refuse to accept correction,so very sad,they will be taken away very quickly..
Because of the sins of their mothers’
, that their skirts has been torn off”,and their bodies mistreated in Conceiving”…
May the LORD watches over the children as well as everyone as they roam the streets and keep them safe from whatever awaits them..
Also prayers for the mothers of the rebelles that GOD may put a helping hand to have compassion and mercy on those rebelles that they may live and not perish !!
Poverty is what them young people are going through generation poverty . The majority of parents of the students are single uneducated women with no skills who work for very low wages as low as 3 dollars . The parent of these children have nothing ….no house no land . Nothing at all …
Poverty and being hungry is one thing, but we removed the city police and we stopped the afterschool program that National Lotteries was running. So we ask “what do you expect”.
Anonymous, I went to school hungry. I know many of m classmates who were hungry. There was no city police or after school programme in my time. We did not engage in such behaviours. We keep lowering the bar to accommodate those miscreants. Punish them and punish them severely. That’s the only answer.
The environment kids are being brought up today is one of the main problems.
– Murder/Gun music always on the TVs, radios and speakers.
– Poverty, no better options for the future, high youth unemployment.
– Broken homes and families. Single parents have to work to put bread on the table instead of spending time with the kids.
– Major drug trade going from South to North America.
– Easy access to guns.
Dear 🇱🇨 St Lucienne people !!
I am certainally agree with some words of point that every employee deserved treat with a minima of ten dollars an hour ⚖️ for their hard labour,except the late Sir MJC who was a little honest to hear the pleas of the employees what was deserved for their hard work…
Ever since he was no more, the labour code have has violated by the Kenny’s
administration and labour department workers has sold the rights of the employees for the employeurs for a short of white rum and a few pennies…
But very dearly,
We must not be supprised by the times, for difficult times cannot disown or erase the promise of God inspite, before times,there was No Wages for man neither beast,and I have never heard from those before us, which is no more, though was poor but never lacks nothing !!!!!????
Re Article, Sorry to hear and see the outcome of poverty and Married men unwanted children..
Including Rape incident.
We must abolish the slave wages system to help the parents of those unwanted children..
A minimum wage of $10+ per hour based on hours worked to everyone to avoid more Mayhem..
@ Solutions oriented I agree with your post. There is nothing new under the sun – do you know how many people came out of poverty and went on to educate themselves and make great contributions to their society??? – some folk taught themselves to read. We need to stop making excuses for bad behavior and lack of ambition and even though poverty does exist – there is always someone who can at least give you a basic meal…some folk believe they are entitled to steak by any means necessary even if they have to steal someone else’s cow –that’s a problem ??????????
Currently in St. Lucia —- envy, jealousy, obeah, wanting to get rich overnight, wanting what you can not afford, wanting someone else’s husband or wife, house, sheep, goat, produce etc. etc. etc. and not being grateful for where you currently are seem to be the order of the day. Please understand wherever you are right now – it could always be much worst.
There are some places on planet earth, where people live in huts made out of mud/paper/straw and they still do not resort to violence/crime.
In some other places salaries are much less than $600 us annually – do your own research regarding how some people live in other parts of the world? The favorite saying among many St. Lucians – “things hard in St. Lucia” –well — tell me where in this world – Things are easy???????
However, you can bring a horse to the water, but you cannot make it drink. If you have a lemon make lemonade and be grateful – if all you have is a lemon and you want to make orange juice – that’s unrealistic thinking.