KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Cabinet is to consider a proposal to engage 25 district constables for the maintenance of public order, particularly at the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre.

Director of Safety and Security in Schools, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Coleridge Minto, said Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Ruel Reid, will take the proposal to Cabinet.

Minto, who was addressing a sensitisation session on Justice Services, at the Ministry of Justice, on November 10, said the proposal was developed by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

Meanwhile, he told the gathering that there is a move to deal effectively with children who are dropping out of school, as there is a correlation with this and crime.

He said Cabinet has already approved a plan to develop a research programme to identify and place them in the education system through the Career Advancement Programme (CAP), Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI), and the Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL).

Minto said people who know of children who have been expelled from school, should contact the ministry, so they can be given assistance.

He emphasised that the students should be helped and given another chance to acquire an education and skills, because once they are left to uncertainty, they might end up in criminal activities.

Minto also appealed to School Resource Officers (SROs) to look out for drugs being peddled near educational institutions, as it has been found that some students  obtain the substance not far from their schools.