Saint Lucia: Minister for Education calls for an end to student loitering

Saint Lucia: The Minister for Education, Shawn Edward, is calling for a multi-pronged approach to curb the perennial issue of student loitering. He remarked that the neither the Ministry of Education nor the minister could single-handedly solve the problem.

“This calls for a multipronged approach. Principals have a role, ministry officials have a role, the police they too have a role, and ultimately the parents have a role,” he said.

The minister urged parents to take greater responsibility for their children’s whereabouts.

“If school is dismissed at 3, the student needs to be home by 4:30; and accountable to the parent if they are not,” he said. “There are too many students loitering the streets, and you see some at seven at night still wearing their school uniforms. This is what happens when the social fabric of society begins to disintegrate.”

The minister’s statement came following a stabbing incident involving students in the city’s centre.