TT: Sir still at school

NEWLY APPOINTED principal of the troubled San Fernando Secondary Comprehensive School, Vishnu Dass, did not take up duties yesterday, following the violent protest by pupils on Wednesday over the transfer of their former principal.

Instead, Gene Bacchus, who has been transferred to the Couva Junior Secondary School after a three-month long tenure at the Farah Street, San Fernando, school, continued as principal of the institution.

In effect, that means the school now has two principals.
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Communication specialist at the Education Ministry Hilton Braveboy told the Express that Bacchus returned to the school to ensure that Dass's transition was a smooth one.

"He was told to report to the San Fernando school because of the protest action taken by pupils. Bacchus was asked to ensure that the situation did not happen again and to advise the pupils on the importance of respect for their new principal," he said.

Braveboy was unable to say when Dass would assume duties as principal. However, the Express learned that "it should not be later than Monday morning".
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In the meantime, Dass will continue to remain at home until the Education Ministry instructs him to take up duties.

Bacchus was the former principal of the Point Fortin Senior Secondary School and the Cedros Composite School.

When I encountered the Express's version of this story, according to which students allegedly said "they did not want an Indian principal", I doubted that race was a factor in the students' preference for Gene Bacchus over Vishnu Dass. Well, I was right.

I had thought that Gene Bacchus's name was familiar to me, but I couldn't be really sure. It turns out that I do know him. Gene Bacchus was principal at Point Fortin Senior Secondary during the 10-year-long year I spent teaching at what was then Point Fortin College (PFC). Bacchus is a dougla, I think, which, for the benefit of American readers is a person of mixed African-Indian ancestry. Either that, or he's an Indian with very curly hair.

So, why did the Express reporter inject race into a situation in which race was not really a factor? The students' principal objection has been and remains that Bacchus is a very caring man who has connected with the student body in a short space of time; he has made improvements to the school's physical plant; he has introduced a wealth of student-oriented programs and changes to SFSCS; and, he has made himself accessible to his students who deeply respect him and don't wish him to leave. There was no need to muddy a really good story with a racial angle that just isn't there.