NPTA, TTUTA take issue with PM’s call

The Na­tion­al Par­ent Teacher As­so­ci­a­tion (NPTA), T&T Uni­fied Teach­ers’ As­so­ci­a­tion (TTUTA) and oth­er stake­hold­ers have pushed back against Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar’s sug­ges­tion that per­sis­tent­ly dis­rup­tive stu­dents be sent home as part of a ze­ro-tol­er­ance ap­proach to school in­dis­ci­pline.

The Prime Min­is­ter made the pro­pos­al in a state­ment on Sun­day ahead of the start of the new aca­d­e­m­ic year, urg­ing schools to adopt a tougher stance to­ward dis­rup­tive stu­dents and un­co­op­er­a­tive par­ents.

Speak­ing with Guardian Me­dia as stu­dents re­turned to class­rooms yes­ter­day, NPTA pres­i­dent Wal­ter Stew­art said the as­so­ci­a­tion ful­ly sup­port­ed Per­sad-Bisses­sar’s em­pha­sis on the im­por­tance of ed­u­ca­tion but was con­cerned about her pro­posed re­sponse to per­sis­tent in­dis­ci­pline.