The management of the Scarborough Port Mall has ban students from entering it unless they are accompanied by a parent.
Tobago education stakeholders have applauded the decision.
On Tuesday, the mall, on Milford Road, Scarborough, issued a public notice titled: Student Ban In Effect.
It said, “Regrettably, we wish to inform the public that any children or student not accompanied by a parent or guardian will not be allowed on the Port Mall premises, effective November 28, 2022.”
The notice gave no further details, but Newsday understands the mall’s management has been very concerned about the high levels of indiscipline in the behaviour of many students on the premises.
Acting schools supervisor III in the THA Division of Education, Research and Technology Sherra Carrington-James welcomed the move.
“I think it is a positive step and move,” she told Newsday. “The discipline of our students in and out of school has been of great concern, not just to the secretary (Zorisha Hackett) and the administration, but certainly to the wider public.”
Carrington-James added, “It reinforces for us what essentially has been the mantra across the world. It takes a village to raise a child, and this cannot be done by any single agency. It involves all stakeholders. So quite frankly, it is a move that we applaud.”
She said the issue also raises the question of parental jurisdiction
“When a child leaves his or her school, even in school uniform, where they are so branded and recognisable, who, in essence, is going to be responsible for that child? Where does the influence of the parent start and end?
“Because if my child is very clear that in this home, when you leave school, you go to football training – constructive engagement. You go to class – constructive engagement. You get on the bus and you come home, because at home is where we debrief and ensure that there (are) family values.
"Where does the influence of the particular parent begin and end? That is the greater question I feel we have to ask.
“Parental influence says in this family, our child must leave school and go to constructive engagement, not hang in the Port Mall. So in a nutshell, we fully endorse it.”
Carrington-James said the division was very focused on ensuring students practise values that would contribute to a constructive society. Productive engagement, she added, is a part of that.
Carrington-James said she hopes other agencies will follow the lead of the Port Mall in clamping down on student indiscipline.
“There may be other agencies that we would hope over time will say, 'Yes, we are in full support of this. You are not in our space, except we see that endorsement from the parent that says we are coming to do some shopping.' So it is a move to be applauded.”
Education Secretary Zorisha Hackett said she is not surprised by the move.
“There have always been challenges in dealing with the students at the mall. But that’s no surprise. And it’s not the first ban. But I endorse the move.
TTUTA Tobago officer Bradon Roberts said
