Teachers working at high schools in the Corporate Area and St Catherine believe that their colleague at Pembroke Hall High School who was recorded on video issuing a violent threat to a male student in her class should not be fired.

The teachers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that hopefully some good will come from the situation and the relevant authorities will examine the real cause that led the teacher to the unpleasant moment.

“Her comments were out of line, especially to the point where she threatened murder. In fact, she shouldn’t have been going toe to toe with him like that,” one teacher said. However, he emphasised that, as an educator himself, he more than understands her frustration and anger.

“She is human, and we all get there. It’s just unfortunate that someone decided to record her during such a low moment,” the teacher said.

“I don’t think she should be fired, though. While some kind of disciplinary measure may need to be taken to discourage this kind of thing, the more important part of the solution is rooting out the issues in the school that would have led up to her responding like that, and then also building more reliable support systems for her and others like her who are overworked, frustrated, or otherwise overwhelmed teachers,” he argued.

The other three teachers who were interviewed by the Jamaica Observer all agreed that termination is too extreme a punishment for the Pembroke Hall teacher.

“I don’t think she should be fired. I think she should be sent on leave for maybe the rest of the semester and not have to teach that student again. We all lose it sometimes, so although she was very wrong for what she said, I can understand her frustration, and she shouldn’t have to become unemployed because of it,” the second teacher said. “We could perhaps look into avenues to provide more psychological support for teachers.”

The third teacher said: “I don’t believe she should be fired, but some pertinent questions need to be answered to determine the appropriate action.

“Primarily, is this the general behaviour of the teacher in question? If not, and the outburst was out of character, then perhaps a lenient approach would be most suitable. If this is her general mode of conduct, then perhaps more stringent measures should be applied. But a loss of job doesn’t seem an equal punishment to the offence. There was no physical altercation; just a highly inappropriate verbal exchange,” the teacher pointed out.

A former teacher with whom the Observer spoke said she decided to venture into another profession because she feared snapping like the Pembroke Hall teacher.

“I used to teach at a school and I had to leave because I was getting so frustrated and I was pretty close to losing my mind,” she related.

“The teacher in the video was obviously frustrated. That does not make it right, but I understand it all too well. I have been close to losing my cool while in a classroom several times because the disrespect from the students was more than I could tolerate. It was never-ending.

“I almost lost my cool when a fourth-form boy decided to slap me on my bottom in my very first year of teaching. I almost lost my cool when another fourth-form student, who claimed he really liked me, backed me into a corner.

“Teachers have to put up with a lot, so I feel for her. Her punishment should not be termination. He who feels it, knows it best,” she said.

On Wednesday, minister without portfolio with responsibility for education, youth and information Karl Samuda met with the board of Pembroke Hall High to discuss additional areas of support to the school.

During the meeting, which was held at the ministry’s National Heroes’ Circle offices, board members identified the need for stress-management programmes to help members of the school body deal with difficult situations.

The board also requested additional infrastructural support, which Samuda committed to providing.

“We will provide professional development programmes, including a stress-management component for members of staff. A parent-inclusion programme will be rolled out at the school,” Samuda said.

“In addition, we will provide additional infrastructural support. This will include classrooms, a dedicated smart room to assist with specialist interventions at the school, as well as equipment to support their Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme,” Samuda added.