MUT calls for schools for unruly children

The Malta Union of Teachers has called on the education authorities to put unruly students in special schools, claiming that the problem of disobedience is getting out of hand.

Last year Education Minister Louis Galea had announced that a new institution will be formed this year to cater for expelled students.

Yesterday, he requested the National School Discipline Board to probe a student assault which left a young teacher injured last Wednesday and draw up a detailed report of the incident.

But at a meeting last night, the MUT council accused the minister of "all talk and no action" and announced a rally for its members to discuss the next step.

The MUT charged the ministry with taking minimal action against the 14-year-old student who punched his geography teacher to the ground.

The teacher, 24, had ordered his rowdy class at the Boys' Junior Lyceum in Paola to settle down after the school lunch break. The student in question allegedly slammed his chair in protest and after being ordered out of class, assaulted the tutor, breaking his teeth.

The aggressor is being allowed to sit his exams this week, albeit from a different classroom, and will be suspended for a fortnight, the MUT was informed.

In a letter copied to the media, Dr Galea asked Joseph Muscat, the chairman of the National School Discipline Education Board, to treat the matter with urgency.

He asked for an account of the circumstances leading to the incident and a medical certificate of the injuries sustained by the teacher. The minister wants to know the response time of the authorities and the support given to the victim.

He also requested details of the disciplinary measures against the student and of precedents of similar behaviour.

During a news conference last night, MUT president John Bencini (right) asked why the minister was making certain requests when he already had the answers. The police had already been informed about the case and the student should be arraigned in front of the juvenile court, Mr Bencini protested.

He said it was high time for the education system to be modified to separate the good students from the uncontrollable ones. The Education Division should earmark certain schools to cater for children with difficult backgrounds and provide them with the necessary infrastructure to help them.

He said the union had no choice but to act on its own steam, since the authorities were evidently not interested in sticking to their "zero-tolerance" promises.

He said the measures taken against the student had done little more than humiliate the teaching profession further. The aggressor walked into school like a "hero" yesterday morning, wearing plain clothes and a large cap leaving teachers at the Boys' Junior Lyceum with no choice but to present a petition to the MUT highlighting the intolerable situation.

Mr Bencini listed a series of examples which he claimed showed the authorities' reluctance to act. A list submitted to the government earmarking the problematic schools that required security was ignored. Teachers at the Maria Assunta girls' school have reached the end of their tether following continuous reports of children spitting and bullying their teachers.

He claimed the problem of unruly behaviour was spreading from state to church to private schools.