Queen’s College teachers demand apology, ban of senior judicial officer from school

Last Updated on Thursday, 17 November 2022, 7:38 by Denis Chabrol

Queen’s College teachers  are demanding that a senior member of the legal fraternity apologise to the Deputy Headmistress for his hostile encounter with her last week Friday or be banned from entering that school, according to well-placed sources.

Chairman of Queen’s College’s Board of Governors Marcel Gaskin confirmed that the matter was being addressed but declined to provide further details. “The issue has engaged the attention of the board . Because children are involved, I do not wish to comment publicly any further in this,” he told Demerara Waves Online News on Wednesday.

The official allegedly verbally abused the Headteacher at the school, having gone there to express concern that his daughter was made to apologise to the son of a senior education officer.

The request for an apology was made during a meeting with the Assistant Chief Education Officer Ms Harvey and the Principal Education Officer yesterday.

The senior legal officer allegedly went to Queen’s College in the company of a senior police officer after his daughter called and told him that she apologised to the other student. The legal officer allegedly became enraged as he questioned why his daughter had to apologise to the male student. Sources said the police officer eventually stood in between the senior legal officer and the Deputy Headmistress.

The male student allegedly blocked her from entering his classroom and they shoved each other.  Teachers have told students that they should not enter other classrooms.

Teachers on Wednesday went on a g0-slow to protest the incident. That industrial action had entailed merely giving the students work but providing little or no supervision.

The senior legal officer previously had a number of public spats with at least three other persons including a media owner.

The 2021 Code of Ethics for Judicial Officers states that “it is incumbent on a judicial officer to ensure that his or her conduct in
both private and public life is perceived by a reasonable observer to be above reproach” and “a judicial officer, in addition to observing this high standard personally ought to encourage and support its observance by fellow judicial officers, since questionable conduct by one judicial officer reflects on the entire judiciary.”

Guyana currently does not have a Judicial Service Commission to hire and discipline judicial officers.