Court declares teachers 'public officers'

Teachers are public officers, a Criminal Appeals Court has decided. This means that teachers are now being afforded better protection in terms of the law.

In a judgment handed down earlier last month, the judge imposed a three-year Probation Order on a 13-year-old who was found guilty of assaulting her secondary school teacher at school. The incident took place in October.

On passing judgment, the judge took into consideration the Attorney General's argument that assault on a teacher does not merely constitute bodily harm on a person, but is an aggravation due to the fact that teachers are public officers. This means that in the eyes of the law, teachers are afforded better protection as persons "charged with a public duty, while in the act of discharging his/her duty."

As a result of the court concluding that teachers are public officers, the Criminal Appeals Court judgment handed down a harsher sentence than the two-year Probation Order the Court of Magistrates imposed on the girl in November.

The role of teachers as described in the Education Act makes it "one of the main functions of the state" the court said.

The Malta Union of Teachers' president, John Bencini, said the judgment did not take him by surprise. While acknowledging that the judgment places teachers in a stronger position, he said their professional status as public officers has long been secured through the Education Act.

"It's about time we realised the important role teachers have and we secured it through a court sentence," he said.

However, he does not believe the judgment will serve as a deterrent, as the sentence handed down was not harsh enough. "The judgment can only make a difference if courts impose harsher penalties, which the law already provides for."

Although the judgment has put into effect a law that will protect teachers to a higher extent, "parents will not put enough pressure on their children to respect their teachers simply because teachers have been recognised as public officers in court."

Neither will the judgment affect students' way of thinking and behaviour in any major way," Mr Bencini said.

Parents should teach their children to respect their teachers. Children should be taught to respect their educators in the same way they respect their parents, he said.

This type of respect should be borne out of the fact that teachers are their educators. But one has to start with teaching adults first, who often engage in impertinent attitudes which their children rapidly emulate.

"We still have to go a long way to go. A television programme last week was proof that some adults still don't know how to address with respect three leaders of society - among them, the Prime Minister - let alone teach their children how to treat teachers with respect. So how can we expect some children to know better?"

Some parents' attitude with respect to their children's teachers still leaves a lot to be desired. There should be a point of convergence - a shared responsibility.

One way was to encourage parents to take a more active role in parent-teacher associations. The fact that although such associations are mandatory under the Education Act, the parents' level of participation was very low and was a cause for concern.

Mr Bencini also encouraged parents to discuss their children with their teachers and heads of school, as it is through positive discussion that an effective solution in the best interest of the child can be reached.