The ministry will check goalposts in schools

FORMER Education and Youth Minister Fayval Williams announced on Wednesday that teams from the education ministry would visit schools to inspect goalposts and ensure standards of their use are being met.

This follows a freak accident on Tuesday afternoon that claimed the life of Campion College eighth-grade student Rashad Richards when a soccer goalpost fell on him on school grounds.

The Observer from Jamaica he was told that just after 3pm the boy, who was a member of the school’s rugby team, was playing on a goal post that was not firmly attached to the ground when he fell on it, causing serious injuries.

One unconfirmed report was that he was preparing for rugby training and stretching near the post when the accident occurred.

He was taken to a nearby medical facility, where he was pronounced dead Observer also said.

Speaking at a news conference after the cabinet meeting, Williams expressed heartfelt condolences to Rashad’s family and friends, stressing that schools must remain safe places. She added that the ministry will continue to ensure that safety is taught in physical education classes.

“Yesterday I understood that there was a lot of rain, the soil may have softened – we don’t know – we need to investigate carefully what happened. However, we want to assure Jamaicans that we are carrying out inspections in our schools as we are aware that there have been deaths at the goalposts in our schools in the past,” she said.

Williams noted that a set of standards have been published for equipment used in sports offered in schools, including goalposts, and these standards are included in the Jamaican Standards of Specification for the Safety and Performance of Football Goalposts.

She said the standards were created by the Ministry of Education and Youth Affairs in conjunction with the Jamaica Standards Bureau several years ago and cover how goal posts are used and even how they are secured when and not in use. “We will remind schools of these standards,” she said.

Meanwhile, Williams said teams of ministry counselors and advisors, along with guidance counselors from other schools, visited Campion College on Wednesday to begin offering support to students and teachers.

This is the third such case in the last 13 years. In March 2011, a nine-year-old student of St. Preparatory School. Peter and Paul, Jerimiah Yson Jr., died after a goalpost fell on him on the school’s playground. Following the tragedy, Sts Peter and Paul Prep, Campion College’s feeding school, has introduced a number of safety measures, including the use of aluminum goalposts.

Three months earlier, a similar tragedy claimed the life of seven-year-old Nicholas Hamilton at Coke View Elementary School in Westmoreland.

—Alecia Smith