~ Teacher resigns today, Alleged politics being played at MLK~
PHILIPSBURG: --- There is no other way to describe the situation within the Ministry of Education as various teachers have reported that they are being sexually harassed by a certain individual and the Department of Public Education. SMN News made several inquiries about the allegations from the Minister of Education Rodolphe Samuel who said none of the teachers that contacted SMN News did file an official complaint.
Those that received text messages from the known molester said they are afraid of victimization as such they have not filed a complaint with the Inspectorate of Education.
SMN News learned from reliable sources that some 13 persons resigned from the Department of Study Financing, the sources said that the persons that resigned were having serious issues with the current department head Antonio Aventurin. They said numerous letters were sent to Personnel Department, but they have not received any responses. The sources that contacted SMN News said that one of the persons was forced into early retirement.
On Thursday SMN News was again contacted where they said that a teacher from the Marie Genevieve de Weever School was forced to resign today. The source said that there are issues at all of the Public Schools that have not been addressed by anyone. Allegations have now surfaced that politics are being played at the Marie Genevieve School where the President of the Windward Teachers Union (WITU) is the principal.
Sexual harassment against students.
The parliament of St. Maarten has called the Minister of Education Rodolphe Samuel to discuss the most recent allegation of a sexual harassment case that has been pushed under the rug by the Catholic School Board.
On Wednesday the Minister said that after having a meeting with the Catholic School Board, they informed him by letter that they will not comply with the request of the Ministry to file an official report against the perpetrator of the sexual harassment.
Since the publication of the Minister's statements on Wednesday, several persons within the community have become vocal on the issues of sexual harassment within the school system.
Some years ago, the Principal of Methodist Agogic Center Cedric Hodge was convicted of pedophilia, however, managed to secure a job with the Division of Examinations.
Based on the current trend the Ministry of Education has not been conducting any background checks on educators they hire, while there seems to be victimization from senior persons that have friends in high places within the Government of St. Maarten.
