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News
Gov't to help drowned students' family with funeral costs
BY ALICIA DUNKLEY Observer senior reporter dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
PRIME Minister Portia Simpson Miller has instructed that financial assistance be given to the families of St Andrew College students, Demel Osbourne and Shane Burke, who drowned at a beach in Portland after a field trip to St Mary last week.
Simpson Miller made the announcement in Parliament yesterday while expressing sadness at the incident. She said the "Government will assist the family in any way it can".
The prime minister was among several parliamentarians who commiserated on the accident, which was brought up on the Motion for Adjournment by Member of Parliament (MP) Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert (Southern Trelawny), who is the shadow spokesperson on education and human resource development.
The fourth formers were among a group of about 40 students who went on a trip to a St Mary banana plantation to complete a School-Based Assessment project. Before heading back to Kingston, the bus with the students and four teachers stopped at a beach in Portland, where the two boys drowned.
Yesterday, Opposition MP for North Central Clarendon, Pearnel Charles, begged for leniency in the treatment of the teachers involved in the matter.
"Don't crucify the teachers in this situation because it's not deliberate," Charles said, noting that as a parent himself he could well understand the anguish now being experienced by the parents and family of the students as well as the school community.
Government MP for South East St Andrew Julian Robinson, also commenting on the issue, urged sensitivity, noting that "obviously something went very wrong" and was a point of suffering for all involved, including the teachers themselves.
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2/8/2012
Mr. Charles would you still ask for leniency if it were your child? As a Teacher and a parent i believe the teachers in question should pay in full for their actions planned/ unplanned. Who do they think they are to override the consent of parents. Heard that one family was considering legal actions, if i were a lawyer and not a teacher i would represent them for free. This is gross carelessness. Were there no food stops in St Mary?
2/8/2012
"Don't crucify the teachers in this situation because it's not deliberate"
WHAT? Yes the act was not deliberate, but these students were placed into the teachers' hands out of trust by the parents. The consent forms signed by the parents should have been adhered to. Do the SBA assignment and go straight back to school or home. No detour business unless it was to use the restroom or get food to eat ALONG THE ROUTE. They ought to be held accountable for grave negligence. They were the Chaperones
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