LETTER: PMS Parents Call for Probe Into Alleged Verbal Abuse and Missed Classes

Dear Editor,

We are writing as concerned parents who are at our wits' end over what our children say they are experiencing at PMS, particularly in an Integrated Science class preparing for CXC examinations.

Students have reported repeated verbal abuse by a particular teacher. They say she has called them "low-class bit$#%," declared that she hates teenage girls, and described herself as "the biggest bi$%#," telling them she will "fix them accordingly." These are serious allegations.

They deserve a proper investigation, and the students deserve an opportunity to speak without fear of being singled out or punished. Our concerns also extend to their education. Students report that the teacher frequently misses classes and that, when she attends, lessons are not consistently delivered with the attention and preparation they need.

These children are approaching examinations that can affect their opportunities after school. They cannot recover lost teaching time simply by being told to study harder. As parents, we send our children to school expecting them to be taught, guided and treated with dignity.

Correcting a student does not require humiliation. Maintaining discipline does not require cursing children or making remarks that leave them afraid of the person responsible for teaching them.

We are deeply dissatisfied with the response to our concerns. We do not believe the principal or the Ministry of Education has provided an adequate resolution. This situation has continued for too long, and parents are left wondering what must happen before meaningful action is taken.

We are asking for an urgent, impartial investigation into the reported conduct and missed lessons. We also want a clear plan to address any gaps in teaching before the students sit their examinations. Who will ensure that these students receive the Integrated Science instruction they need? Who will hear their accounts confidentially?

What measures will protect them from retaliation while their concerns are examined? And when will parents receive a substantive response? We ask Antigua News to seek answers from the school and the Ministry of Education, allowing those concerned an opportunity to respond while protecting the identities of the students.

Our children should be concentrating on their examinations. They should not have to dread entering a classroom or wonder whether reporting mistreatment will make their situation worse.

We need this matter taken seriously, and we need action while there is still time to protect both their wellbeing and their education.

Yours faithfully,

Concerned Parents of PMS Students