Crayon boy, five, 'under evaluation'

The five-year-old boy who poked his teacher in the eye with a crayon is being evaluated "to determine his needs", Francis Fabri, the principal of St Theresa College, said.

He said the evaluation process had started before the incident took place two weeks ago.

According to the Malta Union of Teachers, the incident has left the teacher, who is in her late 20s, in pain and suffering from blurry eyesight.

Although the youngster is still going to school for some sessions, as part of the evaluation process he is not in the same class as the injured teacher, who is under observation but is still going to work.

The incident happened on October 27 when the teacher, who was sitting at her desk, was suddenly poked in the eye by a crayon. The MUT says teachers had long been concerned about the boy's behaviour. It was the union that brought the incident to light, saying the boy had "attacked" the teacher and issuing orders not to allow him back in class. The Education Division had hit back saying that by "no stretch of the imagination" could the incident be considered anything but an accident.

Contacted yesterday, MUT secretary Franklin Barbara said the union was insisting that children with behavioural problems be given adequate support, as agreed in the collective agreement signed last year.

An Education Ministry spokesman said calls for applications had been made for various categories of support staff and these were being processed.