There are more than 60 security and safety threats at schools every year, the Teachers’ Union estimates.

MUT president Kevin Bonello told the Times of Malta that the union received two to three security complaints from its members every month.

“That’s not the end of it, though; we learn about other incidents long after they have occurred, as many take the matter to the authorities rather than report it to the union. There must be about six similar incidents happening at schools throughout the island every month,” Mr Bonello said.

Asked what kind of security-related incidents were reported, Mr Bonello said teachers reported incidents in which parents attacked other parents and even other students on school grounds. “Sometimes students attack each other or their teachers. We receive all sorts of complaints and reports,” Mr Bonello said.

The union has written to the government with a series of proposals, including measures to improve security on school grounds.

Mr Bonello insists that excessive security is not necessary, but having personnel trained in conflict resolution, first aid and other skills useful in the event of a violent outbreak will help mitigate the problem.

“We’re not saying schools should have security guards on patrol like banks, but measures should be taken to help contain and manage these incidents better,” he said.  Mr Bonello said the government had raised the age of criminal responsibility but made no framework for problematic youths.

“So we aren’t going to be taking action against these youths through the police, but schools need to have some other way to control them,” he said.

In 2015, the government launched a policy on violent behaviour in schools. However, this was later described by the union as being too generic – lacking concrete proposals on managing students with behavioural problems.

The security concerns were not the only issue flagged by the union in its letter.

This newspaper yesterday reported Mr Bonello’s warning that primary schools would be some 200 teachers short in a few years’ time if immediate action was not taken. Mr Bonello said that if the shortage was not addressed, the lack of teachers would be too big a problem to ignore.

“Under the current situation, we need to employ some 60 primary school teachers every year to meet demand. However, in the next four years, we’ll be lucky if there are 20 new teachers. The shortfall will be too much to handle for the existing number of teaching staff,” he said.

The only solution, he said, would be for student numbers in classrooms to increase dramatically – an unacceptable situation for teachers and students alike.

Mr Bonello also pointed to a “general failure” of the government’s inclusion policy. While many students with learning and behavioural challenges could be included in mainstream classrooms, there was no framework for those who could not, he said.

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