GANJA-SMOKERS RETURNED TO MUNRO

Education Minister Overturns Board's Expulsion Order

THE education minister, Burchell Whiteman, yesterday confirmed that
he overturned the expulsion of five boys from Munro College for
smoking ganja, saying that the school's board had exceeded its powers
by punishing the students twice for the same offence.

At the same time, Whiteman said that he had also been swayed by the
commitment of the boys not to repeat their errors "as well as the
signs of academic progress which they have exhibited during their time
at the school this term".

"I have sought to balance the considerations, the well-being of the
school and the well-being and future prospects of the students,"
Whiteman said in a statement. "I urge all parties to continue to work
with these issues held in balance."

But despite Whiteman's plea for the matter to end, there was still
likely to be a substantial fall-out from his decision, including the
possible resignation of the school's board of governors, which twice
voted to expel the students.

Laurie Sharpe, the board's chairman, was last night still considering
his options but continued to hold to his position that the education
ministry's decision was a "slap in the face" of the school's
authorities and sent "a wrong signal to the students".

The five boys were asked to leave Munro, a 145-year-old high school in
St Elizabeth, after it was found out that they had gone, without
permission, to the nearby town, Malvern, where they bought the ganja
(marijuana), which was smoked on the school premises.

When their parents refused to withdraw the boys, they were formally
expelled. A sixth boy who was implicated was placed on probation after
it was discovered that he had neither smoked the ganja nor left the
compound, although he was with the others.

A caretaker who caught the boys smoking the drug but tried to extract
money for his silence was fired by the school. Most of the students
had transferred to Munro -- one of the few remaining boarding schools
in Jamaica -- during the last term from high schools in Kingston.

The parents took their case to the education ministry for a hearing
last week, and Whiteman, in his ruling, said that the board had gone
beyond the powers it has under the 1980 Education Regulations.

The board, the minister said, had initially suspended the boys for
five days and then followed up by expelling them when it could only
have imposed one of three penalties prescribed under the
regulations.

The minister commended the board and the school's principal, Dr Earl
Hendricks, for the importance they attach to the maintenance of
discipline at Munro, but seemed to suggest that in this case they
could achieve their ends without expulsion.

"I believe that the opportunity remains for further action by the
administration, which reflects the seriousness with which the offences
are viewed and provides a means of correction and rehabilitation for
the students involved, as well as warnings for others who might be
tempted to transgress," Whiteman said.