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SCHOOLS have a solemn legal duty to ensure the safety and welfare of students, the High Court ruled in a landmark decision that held the state liable for injuries suffered by a 15-year-old girl during a violent assault at a secondary school in 2017.

Justice Nadia Kangaloo delivered the judgment, which concluded that Couva West Secondary School breached its statutory and common-law duties of care when it failed to prevent or adequately respond to repeated bullying incidents that culminated in a brutal attack, leaving the victim permanently disabled.

The teen was assaulted twice in one day on school premises by two fellow students, one of whom had a documented history of bullying her. She sustained head trauma, post-concussion syndrome, chronic pain, and a 20 per cent permanent partial disability. The court’s ruling noted that her injuries were foreseeable and preventable, given the school’s prior knowledge of the aggressor’s behaviour.