Political bullying at Sixth Form

Why should members of my family suffer because I happen to be a Labour politician? They attend sixth form at a Church school and at Junior College, and several teachers pick on them simply because they are related to me. These teachers have every right to disagree with me and with what I stand for. But they are a disgrace to their profession and their religion when they allow their political intolerance and fanaticism to shape their relationship with the young people, who are their students.

The best educators are those who educate the hearts and minds of their students through their attitudes and behaviour. Just teaching the course content of a specific subject for the exam is not education, especially if coupled with this soulless drilling the teacher passes derogatory remarks against students and discriminates against them simply because he/she hates the politics of their father or uncle.

It is pathetic that in 2005 we still have this unacceptable behaviour in our schools. Undoubtedly we all pay lip service to several United Nations declarations on human rights. We are proud that Malta formally respects the European Convention of Human Rights and we can seek redress at the European Court of Justice if our rights are trampled upon in Malta, and our courts have not defended us. Our Constitution prohibits all forms of discrimination. And yet we still have schools where teachers treat this culture of human rights with contempt and behave as if all the historical struggles, during which so many suffered and died to acquire these rights, have been in vain.

I think these teachers' behaviour is not simply due to personal failings but also points to a malaise in our society. We still have to work hard to change attitudes, mindsets and behaviour to have a society that is free, tolerant, civil, pluralistic, and capable of embracing and celebrating diversity.

Why does intolerance and fanaticism still thrive among us? If we probe deeply we will find that for large sections of our society the culture of human rights is just another imported product. It has come effortlessly from outside. Not only is it not home-grown but also we have done nothing to cultivate it within us as a personal value and an essential part of how we behave towards others.

Addressing the Gregorian University last month, George Weigel, of the Ethics and Public Policy Centre in Washington, DC, argued: "The deepest currents of 'history' are spiritual and cultural, rather than political and economic. 'History' is not simply the byproduct of the contest for power in the world... Rather, 'history' is driven by culture - by what men and women honour, cherish, and worship; by what societies deem to be true, good and noble; by the expressions they give to those convictions in language, literature and the arts; by what individuals and societies are willing to stake their lives on."

Weigel went on: "If democratic institutions and procedures are the expressions of a distinctive way of life based on specific moral commitments, then democratic citizenship must be more than a matter of following the procedures and abiding by the laws and regulations agreed upon by the institutions. A democratic citizen is someone who can give an account of his or her commitment to human rights, to the rule of law and equality before the law, to decision-making by the majority and protection of the rights of minorities. Democratic citizenship means being able to tell why one affirms 'the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, democracy, equality, freedom and the rule of law,' to cite the preamble to the European Constitution."

Towards mutual enrichment

Weigel also pays tribute to Pope John Paul II's contribution to the culture of tolerance and human rights in his 1989 encyclical Redemptoris Missio. "There the Pope taught that 'the Church proposes; she imposes nothing.' The Catholic Church respects the 'other' as an 'other' who is also a seeker of truth and goodness; the Church only asks that the believer and the 'other' enter into a dialogue that leads to mutual enrichment ..."

Teachers who still practise discrimination and intolerance in our schools show that they are deprived of the culture of human rights and the most advanced Catholic teaching on tolerance. How can they practise democratic citizenship in the classroom and outside it with their attitudes and behaviour?

We all have a part to play to make our society more open and tolerant. A multi-party parliamentary democracy is essentially adversarial and competitive, but within a rich democratic framework nourished by a culture of diversity all these forces of conflict can enrich other and find ways of making our national community more inclusive.

These teachers who do not practise a human rights culture should not seek refuge in the double standards of politicians who preach tolerance and practise its opposite. In May 2003, when the government presented its programme to Parliament, we were promised that its "cherished goal" would be "the ideal of true democracy, where equality of all citizens means that none fall by the wayside in the march towards progress; indeed the ideal of truly Christian, brotherly democracy, where all actively participate in the life of the country and play their part in solidarity with everyone else."

Since then we have had more of the same politics. No bold decisions have been taken to help us all feel welcome and respected in our country. No steps have been taken to help us feel that we all belong to the same country even though we support different political parties. The old politics of trench warfare has not given way to a new politics where we co-operate to get the best for our country.

Instead of moving towards "the cherished goal... of brotherly democracy" we are being treated to more of the same winner takes all and one party state politics.

We have to get out of the partisan rut, with Labourites remembering the Sixties when the Nationalists repressed them and the Nationalists remembering the early Eighties when the Labourites repressed them. We still have not healed the deep wounds that we have inflicted on each other over the years. We have made some progress over the years but there is still a lot to be done to create a national community where we all feel equal because we are treated with equity, and where all the national institutions are truly national and not politically tribal and dominated by partisan networks.

Deep changes are still needed in our local culture to create one nation that celebrates diversity and where differences are mutually enriching. These deep cultural changes cannot be brought about by those teachers who perpetuate intolerance, fanaticism and discrimination by their unacceptable behaviour at school.

evaristbartolo@yahoo.com