Former Marcus Garvey Prin launches consultancy to stand with parents, students for right treatment in schools
Retired high school principal, with thirteen years service to Marcus Garvey Technical in St. Ann’s Bay, St Ann, Leslie Riley, is seeking to use his many years of experience as an educator to ensure that the rights of students are not infringed on by the management of secondary schools island wide.
“Naturally in your day to day transaction in the school system, there will come all kinds of issues including disciplinary issues, so what I will do is go on the side of the parents, represent them so you will find me in their disciplinary committee meetings or any form of hearing,” explained Mr. Riley.
RIGHTS OF CHILDREN
The retired educator recently launched his consultancy company SPEECHS (Students, Parents and Employees Educational Consultancy For High Schools) with offices at Chucks Plaza in Ocho Rios and Greater Portmore in St. Catherine, and has already intervened to address various issues between students/parents and their high schools.
Mr Riley said the main focus of his consultancy firm is to ensure that the right of the child to an education and the dignity and integrity of the education system are preserved. According to Mr Riley he will be using his firm to keep students and schools honest.
He explained that too many students and parents do not know their rights and that school administrators often infringe on the rights of parents and their children and this, he said, sometimes denies the children of their education.
Mr Riley said he will act as the mediator between schools and students/parents to ensure that conflicts are resolved amicably.
“If the child was wrong there is an established procedure to deal with everything, the Code of Regulations specifies how you deal with certain things, ” he said. Mr Riley said schools must abide by the law and adhere to the procedure, by law, of how children are to be dealt with.
KNOWING THE SYSTEM
In explaining his reason behind starting the firm, Mr Riley said: “Even me as principal, because you don’t have any body (independent body) that is vigilant or any body that is going to hold you accountable, then you do some things and you get away with it because you don’t really have any active representation that is going to force you to redefine how you do things, so you take some chances and you get away with it.”
He continued: “I am saying that my organization is mindful of how the system works and what are the legal ramification of the system and so I can say to parents ‘This is your right, this is how you can approach this and challenge that institution,’ because a lot of parents are forced to remove their children from school simply because they don’t know how the system works.”
Mr Riley explained that he will become the voice of students and parents who believe they have been mistreated by schools. He said parents need to get acquainted with the Education Ministry’s Code of Regulation which defines everything by law.
Among the services to be offered by SPEECHS are advice on how to keep students in school and maximize benefits from junior high and secondary schools. He will also provide student advocacy, guard against student abuse, provide expert advice on educational choice as well as protect students against abuse of privilege.
Additionally, Mr Riley said he will also help parents in managing difficult students by analyzing difficult student needs, identifying difficult issues which affects students performance, advise parents on how to deal with difficult students as well as proving counselling. He also wants to help parents know how their child is protected by law.
Mr Riley said there is always need for an independent entity that can review decisions on behalf of students and parents to see if they are in breach of the rights of the individual involved.
“In many instances students and parents are weak in articulating their rights due to their lack of knowledge of the education system and have to accept what the school says, even if the school is wrong.”
He added: “Parents now can hold schools more responsible, they don’t know their rights but it is out in the public domain, the law is in place to ensure that teachers and school administrators, all are held accountable.
Mr Riley said his business will provide a range of services for aggrieved students and parents including resisting school suspension if necessary, investigating students’ problems with schools, negotiate with school administration and the Ministry of Education on behalf of students, parents and employees.
CAREER ADVICE
He will also act to protect students’ space in schools, assist in reinstating students if suspended wrongfully, clarify the rights of a child who is suspended from school, strive to get students record expunged, act as the student representative at meetings with deans of discipline and school administrators, vet incident reports for students, seeking space in schools for students who have lost his/her space or changed address, among other things.
Further, Mr Riley said his consultancy firm will also offer career advice and job advice for the teaching profession including beginning principals, young teachers, members of the administrative staff as well as issues relating to good work ethics, counselling and customer service techniques for ancillary workers. Additionally, he said he will provide training for student leaders.
Mr Riley said his services will be offered at a minimal cost.
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