Minister Responds To Bomb Threats At BVI High School
Minister of Education, Youth and Sports the Honourable Andrew Fahie has assured the staff and students of the BVI High School, parents and the wider BVI community that the Ministry intends to do everything within its power to ensure a safe and conducive environment for learning.
He made the comments during a press conference on Thursday November 16th, following a bomb threat received at the BVI High School, the second such incident in seven working days. On both occasions, school resumed the following day. "The frequency of occurrence of this cowardly act has caused unrest in the British Virgin Islands High School community." The Education Minister said the Ministry would be working along with the necessary agencies, "to ensure that our schools remain safe, peaceful and comfortable learning environments." He said this is necessary so that effective teaching and learning can take place and be maintained. He added that these kinds of illegal, immoral and nation-crippling attempts would not be tolerated in our community. 'As a result, more intense measures will be taken, with immediate effect, to intensify and improve our current security system and monitoring of the campus in all aspects, especially in the telephone services, visits to the campus by outside parties and vehicular traffic," Hon. Fahie announced.
He used the opportunity to thank the parents for their cooperation and patience during these trying times and craved their indulgence for even more patience as the authorities try to eliminate this problem and bring these culprits to justice. He congratulated the Principal and staff for the professional way in which they have handled the crisis and assured them of his full support. "I am also asking parents to continue to encourage your children to be positive about education and the education providers, so that this kind of encouragement can be reflected in their behaviour on campus in terms of what they do and say," the Minister went on. He asked the students to encourage their schoolmates to continue to be positive and discourage anyone who even thinks about carrying out such devious acts. To the supporting security forces and in particular the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force and the school's security services, Hon. Fahie said the Ministry and Department appreciate their service and wish to thank them for their cooperation. He reiterated the need to work hand in hand to combat this problem.
The Education Minister appealed to the wider community to share any information they may have which would help to resolve this problem. Persons with information are asked to contact the Ministry of Education or the Police Department.