With more than 22,000 suspensions recorded by the Ministry of Education between 2022 and 2025, Line Minister Dr. Michael Dowlath says the persistence of these incidents remains a matter of great concern.
Appearing on the Trinidad and Tobago Today morning show on Friday, he noted that the revised National Code of Conduct aims to address digital misconduct by emphasising correction over simple punishment.
“This particular code, the revised code, recognises that we live in a digital world and all our students, their lives are affected by it. So the code itself sets particular rules for the responsible use of technology, and there are consequences for cyberbullying, unauthorised recording and misuse of AI. But beyond discipline, we are promoting digital citizenship education so that our students can use technology responsibly and ethically.”
The Ministry is also developing the Parental Responsibility Act, which will mandate parental involvement in finding solutions for their children.
“We are involving parents through our PTAs, we will ensure that we have discussions with our administrations, our teachers and our PTAs, discuss the various ways of intervention but one of the things that we recognise is that working together with the parents, that shared commitment allows us to have greater success with our students.”
Minister Dowlath notes that the goal is to build character and develop responsibility among students across the country.