— Education Ministry launches investigation

THE Education Ministry is investigating a viral social media video which showed three students of the New Amsterdam Technical Institute, Region Six being brutalised by another student.

The video, which surfaced on Tuesday around mid-day, shows three male students sitting at desks at the back of a classroom being beaten with a belt, lashed and punched by another student.
They were all dressed in the institute’s uniform.

As the three males were hit about their upper body and face, they put up little protest except for periodically shielding themselves as the student who dealt the blows appeared to be scolding them for a deed unknown to this newspaper.
Calls to the technical institute by this newspaper for a comment on the matter went unanswered.

However, Education Ministry Public Relations Officer (PRO), Murtland Haley, stated the ministry is aware of the incident, the relevant officer has been notified and an investigation will be conducted.

Subsequent to Haley’s comments, the ministry issued a statement on the matter.
“The Assistant Chief Education Officer (ACEO- Technical) and the institute’s administration have been advised by the Chief Education Officer (CEO), Mr. Marcel Hutson, to ensure a thorough and expeditious investigation into the incident the ministry views as disturbing,” the statement said.

The release also assured that the findings of the investigation will be shared when completed, while the appropriate action will be taken.
Just over two hours of the video surfacing social media, it received close to 3,000 shares and over 54,000 views with numerous expressions of disgust by users.