Education ministry takes charge at Maldon High
MALDON, St James – The education ministry yesterday assumed full control of the Maldon High School here, which has been shut since Monday because of protests by parents against plans to remove provisional principal Derrick Wilson.
Yesterday, the ministry instructed all members of the school’s academic, administrative and auxiliary staff to report to work today, while students will resume classes on a phased basis, starting this morning.
The ministry, in the meantime, has installed a senior education officer to run the school.
Wilson was appointed as provisional principal at the St James secondary educational institution two years ago, but the education ministry claimed that he had not met the criteria to be appointed to the job as principal.
In the meantime, the Supreme Court has barred the school board and the Ministry of Education from advertising the post of principal. The injunction, issued last week by Justice Roy Anderson, is to remain in force pending a resolution of the matter in the constitutional court in a judicial review.
Lawyers representing the Attorney-General’s Office have been seeking to have the court overrule the injunction.
Education Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson, in a statement yesterday, expressed concerns over the mounting tensions at the school. She said, however, that while her ministry was awaiting the court’s decision on the status of the provisional principal, the ministry had the responsibility to ensure that the education of the students was not compromised.
“Mr Wilson has an injunction, but we need the school to function. We cannot keep the children out of school so we are going to have somebody supervise the process,” the education minister told the Observer in a telephone interview yesterday.
Angry placard-bearing residents, in support of the acting principal, padlocked the school’s gates on Wednesday, preventing the orientation of 325 Grade Seven students. The orientation was expected to continue yesterday, but was not done.
Teachers, including the beleaguered provisional principal, were seen milling around on the school’s compound yesterday.
