The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) has issued a call for more security at schools after the St Francois Girls’ College in Belmont was robbed twice in one week.
Reports state that thieves made off with close to $80,000 in school equipment, including computers.
However, the full extent of what was stolen will not be known until teachers return to school on January 3rd.
The robberies are said to have taken place on December 9th and December 15th.
In the latter incident, according to reports, the bandits gained access via the school’s main entrance, accessed the office, got the keys to the entire building, and went through entire compound, including the IT room and Food and Nutrition Lab, stealing items.
The school’s lobby was also raided.
The school management is currently attempting to replace all the locks and reinforce burglar proofing, since the keys have still not been located.
TTUTA president Martin Lum Kin said, “We are concerned that the institution that is the school, those institutions that are supposed to be sacred within the community, are being breached and the criminals are not thinking twice about entering these compounds where sacred grounds of learning take place. Where even their relatives, their family can be affected when resources are removed.”
He called on the Education Ministry to invest in security measures for outside-of-school hours.
“The Ministry of Education has to ensure that there are greater numbers of officers present so that proper patrols can be instituted. There is also hardware that can be installed, security cameras, security systems, alarm systems that can be installed as well too.”
He said while these investments might be costly, in the long run it will boost the safety of school compounds and prevent theft of resources.
It is believed the thieves who attacked St Francois had inside information, since they knew where the keys to the compound were and where all the valuable items were.
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