By Danny Carr

Objectives
To familiarise educators with:
The Education Act (39:01)
The National schools code of conduct
The Childrens Act (Ch. 46:01)
The sexual Offences Act (Ch. 11:28)
The Dangerous Drugs Act (Ch. 11:25)
The Judges Rules

Important Concepts
Minor
Child
Sexual intercourse
Indecent assault
Serious indecency
Buggery
rape (note the confusion with withdrawing

consent)
Sexual harassment

The Education Act

22/2005
Sec. 7- No person shall be refused admission
to any public school on account of the religious
persuasion, race, social status or language of
such person or of his parent.
Sec. 11- defines a public school as any school
which is maintained at public expense, whether
or not such maintenance is in part or in totality.
Note that a government school is a public
school owned wholly by the government (Sec.
11 (a))

Sec. 22
Except with the written permission of the

Minister, a Principal or Board of Management

may not impose a charge of any kind
whatsoever on pupils in a public school
(a) in return for any service provided by the
school or by the Principal, Board or any
teacher;
(b) as a contribution in respect of any
activities normally undertaken as part of the
curriculum of the school.

Sec. 29
(1) No child shall be required as a condition of

admission into, or of continuing in, a public school

(a) to attend or to abstain from attending any

Sunday School or any place of religious worship;
(b) to attend any religious observance or any
instruction in religious subjects in the school or
elsewhere from which observance or instruction
he may be withdrawn by his parent; or

(c) to attend the school on any day specially

set apart for religious observance by the

religious body to which the parent belongs
Sec. 35- No person shall be employed in a
private school as a teacher or act as a teacher
therein, unless his name is registered on the
Teachers Register
Sec. 36 (1) (c)-Any proprietor of a private
school who knowingly employs a person who is
not qualified under Sec. 35 commits an offence.

Sec. 44 (1)- The principal of any public school

may suspend from attendance any pupil who for

gross misconduct may be considered injurious or
dangerous to other pupils or whose attendance at
school is likely for any serious cause to have
detrimental effect upon the other pupils, so,
however, that no such suspension shall be for a
period exceeding one week.

Sec. 51 (1)-If a teacher in a public school has

been found by the Teaching Service

Commission to be guilty of gross
misbehaviour, or gross inefficiency or other
conduct unfitting him for employment as a
teacher, the Minister may, upon so notifying
such person in writing, cancel the registration
of that person and remove his name from the
Teachers Register.

Sec. 61 (1)-A member of the Teaching Service

may not engage in any business or trade or

pursue any other activities for gain or reward
without the permission in writing of the Public
Service Commission to do so.

Sec. 88 (1)- A person who contravenes any of

the provisions of this Act is guilty of an offence

Code of conduct
Regulation 62-A teachers conduct shall at all times

be such as would not bring the Service into disrepute

Regulation 63 (2) - In the discharge of his duties, a
teacher shall be courteous and polite to colleagues,
students and members of the public.
Regulation 67 (1)-(1) A teacher shall not respond to
questions of public policy in a manner that may be
reasonably construed as criticism and which may call
into question his ability to impartially implement,
administer or advise on Government policy.

Sec. 77 (1) outlines what misconduct is in a

very general sense which sec. 77 (2) lists a

number of specific acts which constitute
misconduct

National
Schools
Code
of
A teacher commits an act of misconduct
Ethics
when:
(1) Without reasonable excuse does an

act which (a) amounts to failure to perform any required

lawful duty in a proper manner;
(b) contravenes any of the Regulations;
(c) contravenes any law relating to the
performance of the duties of this office;

(d) is otherwise prejudicial to the efficient

conduct of the Service or tends to bring the

Service into disrepute

is absent from office or official duties without

leave or valid excuse, or is habitually irregular

in the time of arrival or departure from the
place of employment.
commits any immoral, obscene or disorderly
conduct in office;

uses, without the authority of the principal or

in his/her absence the vice-principal, any

property or facilities provided for the purposes
of the service, for a purpose not connected
with his official duties;

Sexual offences Act chapter

11:28
Rape.
4A. Grievous sexual assault.
6. Sexual intercourse with female under fourteen

years.
7. Sexual intercourse with female between
fourteen and sixteen years.
8. Sexual intercourse with male under sixteen
years.
9. Incest.
10. Sexual intercourse with adopted minor, etc.

11. Sexual intercourse with minor employee.

12. Sexual intercourse with mentally

subnormal person.
13. Buggery.
15. Indecent assault.
16. Serious indecency.
17. Procuration

 One of the countrys most prominent Pentecostal

pastors, Peter Regis, has been forced to resign after

being caught in a sexual relationship with the wife of
a junior pastor of his Valencia Pentecostal Assembly.

A school supervisor, who requested

anonymity, said sexual, physical and mental

abuse was rampant and was a reflection of
the unravelling of societys moral fabric
(Report by the Trinidad Guardian 2010)

A father was found guilty on Monday on three

counts of incest and one charge of grievous

sexual assault on his daughter

Sex scandals involving three teachers and

pupils at three separate schools are engaging

the attention of the Ministry of Education,
according to Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh
yesterday

Two boys at Fatima college involved in

homosexual acts caught on tape.

29-year-old mathematics teacher, sends

suggestive photo to a 15-year-old student at

Bishops Anstey High School.

Causal factor?

The findings show support for our hypothesis that

media portrayals of women can influence sexual

attitudes and beliefs (Lanis and Covell, 1995)
Our findings underscore the need to be concerned

about the narrowing gap between pornography

and the portrayal of females in advertisements
(Lanis and Covell, 1995)

Subliminal stimuli have been scientifically

shown to affect conscious perception,

emotional responses, driver related
behaviours, memory, dreams and purchasing
and consumption behaviour etc. (Reichert and
Lambiase, 2003)

 Sec. 6-sexual intercourse with a female under

the age of 14 years- male has sex with a

female who is not is wife she is under the age
of 14yrs-it is immaterial whether she gave
consent or whether the male believed she was
14 yrs or older.
Sec.7-sexual intercourse with a female
between 14 and 16 yrs- male person has sex
with female who is not his wife, with consent,
she is older than 14 but did not attain 16yrs

 He will be excused under sec. 7 (1) above

If he honestly believed that the female person

was sixteen years of age or more; or

If the male person is not more than three
years older than the female person and the
court is of the opinion that the evidence
discloses that as bettween the male person
and the female person the male person is not
wholly or chiefly to blame

Sexual intercourse with a

minor employee (sec. 11)
in respect of any employment or work under

or in any way subject to the adults control or

direction
(minor means a person under eighteen
years of age)

31
(1)-mandatory
reporting
parent or guardian of a minor
of
suspected
abuse
ofcontrol of a
Has
the actual custody,
charge or
minor
minors

Has the temporary custody, care, charge or

control of a minor for a special purpose, as his
attendant employer or teacher, or in any
capacity; or
Is a medical practitioner or a registered nurse
or midwife and has performed a medical
examination in respect of a minor,

(2) Any person who without reasonable

excuse fails to comply with the requirements

of subsection (1), is guilty of an offence and is
liable on summary conviction to a fine of
fifteen thousand dollars or to imprisonment
for a term of seven years or to both such fine
and imprisonment.

Anyone mentioned in sec. 31 (1) who has

reasonable grounds for believing that a

sexual offence has been committed in respect
of a minor shall report the grounds for his
belief to a police officer as soon as reasonable
practicable.

The Amy Annamunthdo

Case
Who was charged?
Name all the persons who were liable to be

charged
Guardian Headline-

We killed Amy Annamunthodo

Amy had cigarette burns to her chest, abdomen,

back and vagina. Amy had lacerations, tears,

bleeding, scrapes and bruises on her neck, eye,
chest, shoulder, palm, back of her right hand,
her heart. Amy had lacerations, tears, bleeding,
scrapes and bruises in her brain, lungs, spleen,
liver, adrenal glands, kidney, abdomen, pelvic
area, upper, mid- and lower back, and bottom.
Amys hymen had been ruptured. Amys anus
had been ruptured.

Lily Seepersad, seven; Radha Pixie Lakhan,

16; Mastaq Benoit, 16; Lisa Sammy, 17;

Zakiyah Mitchell, 14 months; Dion Barclay, 16;
Shernelle Codrington, 16; Ricardo McKenzie,
16; Jashouna Hypolite, 15; Neil Clement, 17;
Mikhaeil Alleyne, 13; Dario Mc Coy, 16; Jevon
La Monte, 17; Simeon King, 16;

Kimo Richards, 15; Kyle Grant, 17; Akel

Gafoor, 17; Ronald Palakdhari, 16; Shahida

Phillip, 16; Dominic Thomas, 16; Michael
Forde, 14; Tecia Henry, 10; Ashwaria Boodoo,
five; Kristina Boodoo, 15 months; Daniel
Guerra, seven. (Compiled by Nalini Seebalack
and Anne Marie Bissessar.)

Governmental and other agencies that provide

services for victims of child sexual abuse (CSA)

have reported a sharp increase in reported cases
within the past five years, and one nongovernmental organisation (NGO) indicated that
the police station in its community received at
least five incest or CSA reports a day (Institute of
Gender and Development Studies at the
University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine)

31A. Where a person prevents a minor from

(a) giving a statement to the police; or
(b) testifying
in proceedings relating to a sexual offence, he

commits an offence and is liable on summary

conviction to a fine of twenty thousand dollars
and to imprisonment for a term of ten years.

The Childrens Act chapter

46:01

Section 2 :
A child is anyone under the age of 14 years
A young person is anyone who is 14 years or
older but not yet 16 years

Section 3
If any person over the age of eighteen years,

who has the custody, charge, or care of any

child or young person, wilfully assaults, illtreats, neglects, abandons, or exposes the
child or young person, or causes or procures
the child or young person to be assaulted, ill
treated, neglected, abandoned, or expose, in a
manner likely to cause the child or young
person unnecessary suffering or injury to his
health is liable to a fine of ten thousand dollars
and/or to imprisonment for two years

The Judges Rules

A police officer shall not record a statement

from a child at school. If it is absolutely

necessary, this should be done with the
consent and in the presence of the Principal or
his nominee.
What is the essence of the Judges Rules?

Dangerous Drugs Act

Chapter
11:25

Sec. 7- A person other than a person referred

to in subsection (2) found in possession of a
dangerous drug or a substance other than a
dangerous drug which he represents or holds
out to be a dangerous drug, on any school
premises or within five hundred metres
thereof is deemed to have the dangerous drug
or substance for the purpose of trafficking

Sec. 8- In subsection (7) school premises

means the premises of a school, college,

university or other educational institution and
includes buildings, playing fields or other
premises established, maintained or used by
such institutions for the benefit of its students
whether or not such buildings, playing fields
or other premises are within the curtilage of
the institution.

Question/comments