During a well-attended rally at the Catholic Institute last Wednesday, the Malta Union of Teachers issued directives for industrial action following what the union described as “a spate of violent attacks on teachers”.
The directives include specific instructions to teachers in the St Joseph Junior Lyceum, where a boy was suspended last month after he attacked a teacher. Teachers of state, Church and independent schools have also been asked to report for work one hour later than usual on 23 March.
The directives might be considered to be rather mild, especially considering that the MUT has for long been warning that it will be taking action in protest against attacks on teachers by students and parents, the number of which has increased over the past months.
But, on the other hand, they could be interpreted as a sign of goodwill on the part of the union. The MUT could not disregard what has taken place in various schools, with several teachers falling victim to irate parents and students. It chose to take limited measures to express its concern over such attacks and at the same time push the Education Division to take the necessary steps to curb such abuse.
The MUT has already warned that similar directives to the one issued for St Joseph Junior Lyceum will be given if incidents are reported in other schools and the administration is not seen to deal with these cases in an acceptable manner.
The MUT has once again passed on the message that it is not happy with the way the division tackled this particular incident. The union had already crossed swords with Education Minister Louis Galea soon after the incident, and it had then said that the authorities did not deal with the situation in the proper manner.
What is also important to point out is that MUT president John Bencini said that the union’s actions “will escalate” if the Education Division does not take concrete steps to punish students who are found guilty of violence against teachers.
It seems that the directives which have been issued were just a warning signal to the Education Division to step up a gear in the way it deals with misbehaving students. The union intends to keep pushing the administration in this regard and will not have any qualms to issue stronger directives in the future if not enough is done.
Recently, the MUT called for the setting up of specialised institutions that would cater for students with behavioural problems. No comment has been forthcoming from the Education Ministry or Education Division in this regard although, to be fair, we do not know whether the subject was brought up during meetings the MUT and the authorities may have had since the union’s statement.
This idea could be studied in the context of our education system. The MUT, rightly so, is not asking for corporal punishment to be re-introduced. It is however saying that there should be centres where students with behavioural problems can get all the special attention that they need.
Discipline in schools, which includes respect to the authorities, is a must, and no stone should be left unturned to teach the younger generations that while it is important to know mathematics and learn English and Maltese, it is equally important to learn to behave socially.
Unless students learn to follow rules and regulations in schools, and get punished accordingly if they do not, it will be hard for them to behave properly when they become adults.
Teachers play an important role in this regard, and they should get all the help they can get. If students start to feel that they can get away with misbehaving, then we are in for trouble.