NIPA saga continues, Minister said a parent filed a complaint against the teacher, she urged students to focus on their examinations and not focus on issues that do not concern them.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The RN students that were scheduled to take the practical examinations on Friday, July 7th were told by the adjunct director on Wednesday morning that they will have to wait until September 2017 to take the examinations now that their teacher Farrah Busby-Richardson has been placed on inactive duty with pay as of Tuesday. The students later contacted SMN News on Wednesday afternoon as said they were each called and told that their practical examinations will take place on Friday as scheduled, the students said that they are quite concerned about who will give them the examination because none of the other RN/LPN instructors were present in the classroom when they were taught, they said that the board and management made the changes after they were informed that the RN students met with the Inspectorate on Wednesday morning to file a complaint.
On Wednesday at the Council of Ministers press briefing Minister of Education Silveria Jacobs said she knew that members of the media will ask her questions on the blow up that took place at NIPA on Tuesday, she said up to Tuesday night she did not get a full report from the board but on Wednesday morning she was provided with the report.
Minister Jacobs said that the teacher that resigned on Monday was sent an email early Tuesday morning informing her that she should not report to school since there is an examination committee in place and the examinations along with the answers to the questions were vetted.
Minister Jacobs said that the school management chose to place the teacher on inactive duty with pay since she resigned on Monday. Jacobs said the teacher sent the board an email on Sunday and Monday she delivered a hard copy of her resignation letter.
She said despite that the teacher showed up at the school and while there the security inform her that she was barred from entering the school compound. Minister Jacobs said that based on the information the teacher then called the students out who escorted the teacher to the classroom.
Minister Jacobs said that it is the security who may have called police since he called his supervisor who also spoke to the teacher and she chose not to leave, she said when the police reached the school they called the Supervisory Board members who told them that they would handle the matter internally and the police then left. She said there were no police altercations at the school she maintained that the information she shared on Wednesday is based on the report provided to her by the Supervisory Board.
Minister Jacobs insisted that the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Antonio Aventurin did not call the police. Minister Jacobs went on to say that the teacher threatened other staff while at the school and also showed aggressive behavior prior to Tuesday’s incident, she said because of that the board chose to place the teacher on inactive duty and to bar her from entering the school premises. She said this decision was taken to avoid further negativity that could hamper the students that were taking their examinations.
Besides that Minister Jacobs said that a parent filed a complaint at the school regarding a WhatsApp group chat where the teacher was involved, she said that the teacher was given the opportunity to defend herself as the board was investigating the complaint filed by the parent.
Minister Jacobs said that some students showed up at the Inspectorate to file a complaint on Wednesday morning and they were advised to go ahead and write their examinations especially since the Inspectorate had a scheduled appointment with her. She said that the students were given a scheduled appointment which took place on Wednesday.
The Minister implored on the students to stay out of the issues regarding their teachers and management she said students do not have the right to choose to their teachers that should teach them.
