National Interschool Brigade revamps management amid scrutiny

THE NATIONAL Interschool Brigade (NIB), which administers the Behavioural Intervention and Disciplinary Support programme, is revamping its management.

The programme has been scrutinised by the Government in the past regarding its leadership and in response, the NIB has changed its board of directors to fit the new standards.

Kemoy Reid, a social worker and director of the programme, told The Gleaner that there was a need for more qualified personnel to be leading the organisation. However, due to it being a voluntary programme, this affected the recruitment of personnel with the required skill set.

“We’ve been having challenges with management because, to be honest with you, it’s a voluntary programme and hopefully, September coming, we’re trying to get the information out there as best as possible to see how best we can start paying these persons,” he said.

The programme provides behavioural therapy sessions to students who have been suspended from school. There are four levels to the programme.

“We have one that is the main one called the tension supervising programme. The moment a child is suspended from school they are referred to us. Fighting, truancy, stealing, being disrespectful to teachers, being insubordinate [are some of the offences]. Schools would have decided how many days of suspension. The child and parent go through an interview process ‘cause most of the time these issues are not just at the school, but they are coming from somewhere, and we believe it’s the home and community,” Reid explained.

He added that the programme also had a Saturday detention segment called the early preventive programme. He said this was when students had not reached a position to be suspended, but their behaviour still had to be monitored.

“We have the residential programme now, where you believe that [that] child needs to go out of the school, out of the home environment, and this [decision is made] normally [after] the board, the dean of discipline or the principal saying, ‘Okay, you need to go and spend 10 days with them, residentially or non-residentially,’” he said.

The final segment is a weekend programme. Students are taken in on Friday and Saturday to participate in sessions, before leaving on Sunday.

“It’s called... a shock treatment; having them understand that if you don’t listen, this is what you may have to go through in the long run,” Reid said.

The programme also has a summer camp that focuses on grooming students to improve the odds of being given a second chance by their schools in the upcoming school year.

“Each year, what the NIB does through the behaviour modification programme is that we lobby these school on behalf of these kids. Lobby meaning that we advocate on behalf of them, we go in to have a meeting with the school or the parent, and we come to an agreement that they will send them to us for the summer - maybe 21 days, 15 days, 10 days - and we put them through a serious behaviour modification camp,” he said.

He added that the camp is comprised of intensive sessions with students, so that the staff can figure out the source of their problems.

“[We are] physically, mentally, emotionally trying to find out what’s happening, to see how best we can support them,” he continued.

He added that the school staff would visit the camp and consult with the programme directors about the progress that each student is making. The camp is followed by six months of monitoring, where the student is required to check in with the programme regularly.

This year’s camp was held in Clarendon, at the Race Course Primary School, with a total of 191 students pulled from schools in Kingston, St Andrew, Clarendon, St Catherine, Westmoreland, St Thomas and Manchester. The sponsors for the programme included Betting, Gaming & Lotteries Commission, the Jamaica Biscuit Company, Jamaica Broilers Group, the Ministry of Education and Youth, and the Department of Correctional Services, among others.

sonae.rose@gleanerjm.com