The mother of one of three boys expelled from the Berkeley Institute for fighting last month is demanding to know why he has still not been placed in another school.

The woman - who asked not to be named - said she was told on January 25 that her 15-year-old son would be transferred to The Educational Centre (TEC) with immediate effect but was yesterday still waiting to hear when he could start classes. “Nobody knows what to do with these children,” she told The Royal Gazette. “He has missed three weeks of schooling and I just want him to be back into school.

“He’s just sitting around at home, hanging onto the walls like they want him to be. Today he is still hanging around doing nothing.”

The 39-year-old mother-of-two added that she had contacted the Ministry of Education but received no information — although a Ministry spokeswoman said last night that the family had been told of orientation for the boy at TEC today. The mother said: “When these boys are not educated on a daily basis they get used to not doing schoolwork. I just feel that my son should be in school. It’s just ridiculous.”

Her son was involved in a fight between so-called “town and country” gangs at the 110-year-old Pembroke school on January 17. He was described as making verbal threats and running to try to kick a “country” boy in the face in a report written by principal Michelle Simmons .

The report said the boy was suspended last October for a similar incident. Mrs. Simmons wrote that he “seems to think that he is invincible. He is a very confident leader but is using this in the most negative ways”.

His mother claimed the “town” boys came out of the January 17 fight as badly as their “country” counterparts and that the battles between the two sides had been going on for several years. “My daughter graduated last year and that’s been there since I was dealing with Berkeley for the last five years.”

She claimed expelling the teenagers would not solve the problem - just ensure that even fewer public school students graduated next year. “They don’t know what to do with them,” she said. “They worry about the grade point averages but if they are never in school to sit exams how can they pass? When suspended they don’t get no work to keep them busy.”

She said she was not happy that her son would now only be able to get a General Education Diploma at TEC as opposed to a Bermuda School Certificate.

“But at least he’ll get something,” she said. “They are trying to just kick them out so they will be nothing.”

The January 17 clash at the school was followed by another fight between two boys a couple of days later. One of the students was hit in the face with a helmet, chipping his teeth and causing him to need stitches in his nose. The school has refused to comment on whether either incident was reported to Police and a response from Bermuda Police Service had not been received by press time last night.

A spokesperson for the Ministry said last night that the three students and their parents were due to attend orientation at TEC today. She said although attempts to reach one of the families had been unsuccessful, this was not the family of the boy whose mother complained to this newspaper.