The Malta Union of Teachers held a protest at MCAST, after an MCAST lecturer was assaulted by a student, needing medical treatment.

As a show of solidarity towards all MCAST grades and a manifestation of MUT's zero tolerance towards aggression, the MUT had said that it was organising a protest for all MCAST grade, which took place on Wednesday, at the MCAST main campus in Paola.

"The MUT called this protest to sound the voice of many of its members after the aggression shown by a student against a lecturer. The union expresses complete solidarity with the lecturer and its members at MCAST, while condemning aggression."

The union said that when the video spread, there were those who said 'Why should a lecturer slam on a desk?' The union said: "If we all together, educators and not, did so when needed, incidents like thise would be able to be avouded."

"We should have slammed (our hands) when we see families who abdicate from their responsibility of parenting, with children spending from 7am till 7pm at school. We should slam (our hands) when we see youths having easy access to substances, some of which were legalised. We should slam (our hands) when youths find easy access to buying alcohol and sex, and participate in gambling. We should slam (our hands) when the aspirations of youths would not be work, but to exploit foreign workers to work in their place. We should slam (our hands) when, looking around, we see that its not about how much you know from school and your skills, but its about who you know. We should slam (our hands) when we put bullies on a pedestal and make them idols. We should slam (our hands) when we see a new level of bullying among youths, where it is carried with them wherever they go through a mobile phone. We should slam (our hands) when we see youths isolating themselves in virtual worlds, and sometimes on the dark web. We should slam (our hands) when we see more youths hurting themselves. We should slam (our hands) when reading international studies that tell us that Maltese youths are among the most unhappy in Europe," the Union said.

"But many, instead of reacting, are choosing to remain aspeep, or close their eyes to it."

"We are educators and cannot close out eyes. If everyone is ready to abdicate from their responsibilities for the good formation of children, we are not ready to do that. That is why we are demanding that we are not left alone in this unprecedented situation."

The union also wanted to give some context to the video that had shown the incident in the MCAST lecture, and published a statement provided to it by the lecturer.

The statement read:

"I have been teaching for more than twenty years and this is the first incident of the kind. My role is to teach and educate students and I always do it to the best of my abilities. Over the past four weeks, the class had to prepare and submit a class assignment as per procedure. Student N did not even print the front sheet which had been provided months before the assignment. He attended class and did not want to work. The situation got complicated when no one from his class wanted to work with him, although I tried to encourage his peers- repeatedly to work with him. I also corresponded with student N to help him understand the task."

"On the day of the incident, I asked Student N where his work was. He tried to be funny and said 'it is on my laptop'. The work involved a class-based assignment which is handwritten. When I asked where the front sheet was, he said that he left it at home. I reminded him that this was the last day to finish off the work. Instead of apologising he started waving his hands saying 'għax int ilek tħawwad id-dati...xbajt tħawwad '. This was followed by swearing and using offensive language and that is when I then told him to leave the class. He remained seated and did not want to leave and what followed was the aggression and the name-calling and insults by student N."

"I left class shaking and with blood dripping from my face and was assisted by the Institute Management. I attended a clinic for treatment and have a scheduled appointment at Mater Dei for scans to determine if there are hidden fractures. I have received ample support from my colleagues, students and management. I am an educator and I only want the best for my students including Student N. I pledge to MCAST to continue to provide him all support needed as I have provided him for the past months."