Over the past few years, the SMVTS has been the dumping ground for unruly children. When some children are out of control and considered dangerous to others, these children are expelled from their school, but are then sent to the SMVTS because of compulsory education. SMVTS being the only government owned high school.
These unruly children are bunched together at one school and over the years have physically and verbally harmed children and teachers. Many of these unruly children have had many encounters with the law (violence, drugs, rap, and stealing). The SMVTS offers vocational education and was never designed to handle students with extreme behavioral problems.
This led SMVTS to step up its disciplinary actions. During the course of last week a series of exercises were carried out some including lining up and being checked for weapons and drugs, appropriate uniform, drills about respect for all.
At the same time, SMVTS allowed students to voice their concerns they were encountering at the school. Some of the issues students listed were bullying, high level of violence and classes being interrupted because of unruly children.
We are calling on Ministry of Education to address the problem of placing unruly students at SMVTS as an answer to the problem. These children need to be placed in a proper facility with qualified staff to deal which such cases.
SMVTS is also calling on parents to be actively involved in your children's lives and to work in unity with the school. When some parents/guardians are called for unruly children, some parents' reaction is "Don't call me. Call the police, because I don't know what to do with him or her either. I am tired." Only together we can move forward.
SMVTS would like to thank its teachers, staff, and PTA for the tedious exercises that took place last week and encourages all parties to stay united as we continue to bring positive change to our school.
