Emotions are still high for teachers from Fort Wellington Secondary School in Guyana, who on Tuesday (March 14) staged a protest against the recent assault of one of their colleagues.

The teachers, who were supported by the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), held placards indicating that they needed justice after a fellow educator was assaulted by students and an adult guardian. For its part, the GTU called on the Ministry of Education to address violence against teachers.

In a Facebook post, Mark Lyte, GTU president, said no one had been charged with wounding the teacher on duty and no one from the Department of Education went to the school although that administrative office is located not far away.

“When the headmaster called the Department to inform [them] that teachers are going to be protesting because they felt as though they were left on their own; nobody cares, nobody intervened to see how traumatised our teachers were but to be told that our teachers cannot protest,” he said.

No longer staying silent and bearing placards that read “We need justice” and Enough is enough”, the teachers also claimed that “there is no discipline in schools anymore” and that “student violence against teachers has become a norm and that’s not okay”.

The disgruntled educators are demanding the maximum penalty of expulsion for the students or have threatened to stay off the job.

Police said a student was contacted and released into the care of his parents, while three adults were arrested. The teacher obtained a medical certificate and has since submitted it to the police.

The union claims that at least 12 teachers have been assaulted so far this year and that no action has been taken by the Ministry of Education.