TWO boys were injured yesterday morning when a fight broke out between rival gangs on the A Block of the Hanover Street-based Kingston Technical High School.

Police from the Central Kingston station had to be called in by school officials to break up the fight which was said to be an act of reprisal for a prior physical altercation between the boys, most of whom were on suspension for the previous incident. Yesterday’s incident forced school officials to suspend classes for the day.

“The boys were supposed to come in today, do their exams and leave,” Phillip Chen, a teacher at the school told the Observer. “These are boys who are on suspension for an incident that had taken place before involving knives,” she added.

According to students, yesterday’s knife-wielding melee started at approximately 10:00 am when two boys began fighting on the A block. The situation worsened when other boys joined in the fight. One boy was stabbed while another received bruises when a belt buckle was used to play bongo on his head. Worried teachers, who tried helplessly to calm the angry boys, were forced to call in the police to quell the situation.

The injured boys were treated at the school’s clinic while the others were whisked away to the Central Police Station where they were charged for wounding.

The incident disrupted what should have been an otherwise quiet morning for grades 10 and 11 students sitting their end-of-term and mock exams in preparation for the Caribbean Examination Council Examinations next month.

Yesterday, Chen blamed the education ministry, which he said made it impossible for school officials to give the students the punishment they deserve.

“The ministry has made us powerless. It is difficult for us to expel these students. These boys come to school, they do no work, and they are rude to teachers and students. They stand around all day doing nothing and when you speak to them they flash you off,” he said angrily. “Yet we are allowed to do nothing. I only wish someone from the ministry was here this morning to see the blood and knives, then maybe they would understand.”

He added that the gangs’ influence on the other students on the school was great.

Yesterday’s incident came almost a week after three male students allegedly made sexual advances toward a female teacher at the school. It was not clear last night what discplinary actions were taken against the accused boys.