The problem of abusive behaviour by unruly students needs to be addressed urgently as the situation is getting out of hand, Malta Union of Teachers President John Bencini said yesterday.

Addressing a conference organised by the union on the subject of unacceptable student behaviour, Mr Bencini said that teachers are passing through martyrdom with abuses, threats and even cases of physical violence occurring on a daily basis.

The MUT president was reacting to an earlier speech by Education Minister Louis Galea, who also addressed the conference and whose speech dwelt mainly on the various reforms and achievements in the educational sector throughout the past decade.

Minister Galea said that discipline and good behaviour were always on the agenda of the Education Ministry. He said that in 2002, the ministry had published a policy document on good behaviour in schools that had clear guidelines.

The minister said that when one is faced with the problem of rebellious students, the problem has to be analysed carefully.

“Difficult behaviour from students does not crop up overnight. Are we asking ourselves the proper questions or are we just blaming each other, with teachers blaming students, students blaming teachers and parents blaming teachers?” Minister Galea asked the floor.

He said that we have to come up with solutions for these types of problems on a long-term basis and not react in a knee-jerk manner.

The minister called for a change of attitude and urged parents to begin accepting responsibility for their children’s behaviour. He insisted that a lot had been achieved in relations between teachers and students in the past years but the responsibility for discipline falls on everyone, and this includes teachers.

Minister Galea asked if it was only in state schools that indiscipline prevails as the impression was being given that problems only exist there. He said that while there is definitely a negative element in some students’ behaviour, many chose to ignore the overwhelming number of students who were exemplary in their behaviour.

The minister said that in 2002, penalties for people who attack teachers violently had increased and there were cases in which people were arraigned in court within 48 hours of the incident occurring.

“We have established a zero-tolerance policy within schools and will continue to do so. There is also a lot of specialised support for students who require guidance and assistance with a complement of six psychologists, 16 councillors and 100 guidance teachers on hand to deal with daily cases. Last year alone, 80 cases of misbehaviour were successfully dealt with and there is also a complement of 70 complementary teachers to assist those students who are exhibiting academic difficulties,” the minister explained.

He said that 1,200 students who were having problems were assisted by 800 facilitators and that there had been 23 students who had been dismissed or excluded because of unacceptable behaviour.

Minister Galea said that the National Board for School Behaviour had examined 67 cases in the past year with six more waiting to be addressed.

Concluding, Minister Galea said that teachers must be open to change and warned that students who would continue resisting discipline would have to face the consequences. He said that all the stakeholders in the education field must work in a chain to ensure that students continue to be the centre of the system as they are our key to future success.

The MUT said that it would be announcing the results and proposals that came out of the seminar’s workshops at a press conference to be held next week.