A staff member of the Government Industrial School (GIS) is awaiting her fate after being suspended from duty with full pay pending the outcome of a probe into reports that two female wards had allegedly ingested harmful substances under her watch.Barbados TODAY has obtained a copy of correspondence that Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Information Deborah Payne sent to the graduate teacher in the GIS’ Female Unit at Barrows, St Lucy, informing her of her immediate suspension and advising her to stay away from the institution.“It has been brought to my attention by the Acting Principal of the Government Industrial School that you were on duty on July 9, 2022, when two (2) committed residents reported that they ingested harmful substances,” the July 10, 2022 letter stated, noting that at the time both residents had been taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).“It is to be noted that this is the second incident, the first being on April 29th, 2022, when a resident ingested a harmful substance when you were on duty. The Acting Principal is in the process of preparing a comprehensive report on the incident for my attention.”
