Source: Fyzabad principal was deceived too; school stops all football programmes after scandal


Fyzabad Secondary have withdrawn from all Secondary School Football League (SSFL) competitions in 2017 as the fall-out from their suspension for fraudulently registering two players into lower sixth form continues.

Yesterday, the SSFL executive suspended the “Fyzo Tigers” from the Premier Division after it was discovered that the school had registered team captain and central defender Dez Jones and midfielder Maurice Dick on the basis of forged documents.

Photo: Fyzabad Secondary midfielder Maurice Dick (centre) is surrounded by teammates [from left] Tyrese Reefer, Sharkeel Louison, Shamor Mahabir and Aaron Jordan during SSFL action against Trinity College East on 20 September at Trincity.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA-Images/Wired868)
Jones and Dick have two and one O’ Level passes respectively. However, the players were enrolled in lower sixth form with certificates which suggested that they had four passes each.

Jones and Dick both claimed that they handed their original certificates to Fyzabad team manager and physical education teacher Nigel Lakhan and were unaware of the deception. Lakhan, according to the SSFL, insisted that the players were the ones who presented falsified papers.

Today, the ramifications of the scandal—which has since been forwarded to the Ministry of Education—saw Fyzabad’s entire football programme go down in flames, as Wired868 was reliably informed that principal Troy Jebodhsingh stopped his school from participating in all SSFL competitions until there is a comprehensive internal review of its teams.

“[He] stopped all football in the school at every level based upon the fact that the school’s reputation and character is being tarnished,” a well-placed source at Fyzabad told Wired868, on the condition of anonymity, “and [he has] to make sure every single player is legitimate…

“[The principal] loves football but not more than his own character and integrity.”

Photo: Fyzabad Secondary principal Troy Jebodhsingh.
(Courtesy Expression House Media/Wired868)

Apart from the Premier Division, Fyzabad also participated in the SSFL Girls Championship Division and boys age-group competitions.

Jebodhsingh told Wired868 that he is unable to comment on the ongoing controversy owing to Ministry of Education regulations. However, a source close to the principal insisted that Jebodhsingh was as much a victim as anyone else.

A crucial bit of information that has gone largely unnoticed, according to the source, is that the falsified certificates suggested Jones and Dick wrote exams in January rather than June.

And, while Fyzabad Secondary would have access to the June results, this, according to the source, is not the case for the January exams.

“In this particular instance, the certification under consideration is a January exam [and] if an exam is not written in [Fyzabad] we wouldn’t have access to the results,” said the source. “The January exams are private examinations which take place in different centres throughout the country. No January exam was written in Fyzabad.”


Photo: Fyzabad Secondary head coach Brian Williams gives instruction to his squad during SSFL action against Trinity College East on 20 September at Trincity.
Looking on are (from right to left) assistant coach Kerry Jamerson, team manager Nigel Lakhan and principal Troy Jebodhsingh.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA-Images/Wired868)

Neither Dick nor Jones wrote exams in January. Both teenagers told Wired868 that they continued to attend school in Fyzabad between January and May.

Dick did not bother to take the June exams at all—as he felt he was too far behind academically—while Jones did show up for the test but never bothered to check his results.

Dick and Jones both repeated form five at Fyzabad after transferring in from Moruga Secondary and Siparia Secondary respectively in September 2016. Both were enrolled in lower sixth form in September although Jones was not sure what form he was supposed to be in.

Jebodhsingh claimed, according to the source, that he was on holiday until 28 August and was out of the country when the registration process for Dick and Jones began. And, when the paperwork did cross his desk, it had already been vetted by the school’s screening committee and vice-principal Suresh Roopnarine.

Photo: Fyzabad Secondary captain Dez Jones talks to Wired868 on 2 October 2017.
(Courtesy Express House Media/Wired868)

The January exam results went on to be okayed by the school supervisor, Zabeedah Abid—on behalf of the Ministry of Education—and the SSFL Credentials Committee. Nobody, it seems, questioned the authenticity of the code for the exam certificate or insisted that original copies be produced.

“In this particular case, the information is in the code,” said the source. “[The school] has 70-something applications so they will not watch to see if a code is legitimate. We didn’t have the original…

“This went from the screening committee, then to the vice-president and principal and the school supervisor. Then once the supervisor approved it, it went to the [SSFL].

“Everybody at every stage was unaware that this certificate wasn’t what it was claimed to be.”

Once the SSFL began its probe—after a request made by Trinity College Moka—Jebodhsingh allegedly started his own internal investigation and asked the students to produce their original certificates.

Dick and Jones, according to the source, said they gave their documents to Lakhan. But neither boy has yet made a written statement to that effect.

Photo: Fyzabad Secondary team manager Nigel Lakhan.
(Courtesy Expression House Media/Wired868)

The source accepted that Jebodhsingh and the school must bear some responsibility for the scandal but suggested that some persons went too far in their criticism.

“It is not as if [Jebodhsingh] sat down with any child or teacher to forge any certificate and it is hurtful [for him] to see comments being made like that,” said the source. “[His] educational career as far as the public is concerned is ruined. People don’t want to know or understand; all they care about is this happened and it is the school’s fault…

“This is a serious indictment against the school and the integrity of the whole system. But remember nobody picked this up; everybody accepted it.

“We have no problem with the Ministry or police getting involved. Let the chips fall where they may.”

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About Lasana Liburd

Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.

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116 comments

  1. They weren’t bright enough to get a full certificate, but they bright enough to falsify their passes to get into lower sixth form? Cmon …..the team manager is a liar!

  2. Nah he must have known apart from the football the academics. Hear what Troy build over . Get Dexter Francis to put stuctures for development like he did at Shiva boys. Football with a poupose , build with what you have

  3. So the “students” are left in the cold because their education is not the consideration here. Just use them for sports

  4. That’s a reminder of their real ‘worth’ to the school.

  5. This has been happening forever. Nothing new. Why didn’t they just register as form 5 repeaters….which is done most times when schools recruit or retain great players….

  6. WAY too many lies being told here.
    FIRST OF ALL…the principal’s stamp is supposed to be affixed to each player’s registration form. Are we saying that the principal’s stamp was used by someone else? who gave permission for this? who is responsible when this stamp is used either in error or fraudulently? That needs to be investigated.
    SECONDLY: The school would have had the students’ JUNE 2015 and 2016 CSEC results. It is ONE thing to say that the students were erroneously or fraudulently registered in SSFL, but they BOTH repeated Form 5. MOE regulations prevent TWO repeats. So the mere fact that the boys were at the school AT ALL means that EVERYONE understood them to be registered in Form 6. If the principal is saying he didn’t know they were registered in F6—in his own school—then this is a gross dereliction of his administrative responsibilities to the MOE. that line of logic fails to pass the sniff test.
    The principal claims to be an avid sports fan, and a strong supporter of the school teams. He must also be aware of MOE policy RE: participation in varsity sport. if he doesn’t it won’t be surprising, but it will not be an excuse he can offer as legal defence of this scenario. ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.
    LASTLY: who paid for the shuttles to school for the boys? Follow the money. ask the maxi drivers who paid their bill. These boys were used by a system that DGAF about our youth. The same system has ALREADY failed them TWICE at CSEC and was conspiring to leave them in the lurch AGAIN! What would have happened when they showed up at the exam hall for CAPE in 2019? “Hard luck yuteman, yuh name ain dey” like they get brace from Aria lounge?
    It is patently obvious that the principal is being disingenuous with these issues. He must not only have known, his hand HAD to be involved in the conspiracy to deceive the SSFL that these boys were properly registered Advanced Level students at the school in his charge.

  7. Check these school out too,shiva boy hindu college,Naparima college and caps these guys are also in playing players with forge documents ,this has been going on for years,FYI.

  8. They’re teaching children from young to deceive and steal way to go T&T

  9. This is very sad, so the whole team has to pay for some ones tricks and scheme. What a wonderful example has been set here and we wonder why to so many things that happen in the schools today.

  10. I understand that people even get into university with such forgeries! Nuff said.

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