Parents have every right to expect that when they send their children to school they enjoy the experience of learning that enhances their educational prospects. So when one reads that bad behaviour in some schools has reached levels that most parents and teachers find unacceptable, questions need to be asked and, more importantly, remedial action taken.
For the past several months, the Malta Union of Teachers has complained that San Ġorġ Preca School in Ħamrun is struggling with “unmanageable behaviour” by some of its students. The union has issued directives to members that are being followed.
Measures have also been agreed with the education authorities to curb this problem of unruly behaviour.
The measures appear to be reasonable and include: the enforcement of the uniform code, the banning of individual students who show no sign of changing their unacceptable behaviour, the strengthening of the school management team, a revision of school disciplinary policies and the deployment of additional teachers.
The first question to be asked is why these measures have not yet been implemented. Is it because school leaders are perpetuating a culture of casual acceptance of serious breakdowns in discipline?
True some steps have been taken. A security guard has been deployed and school corridors are being monitoring by members of the senior management. But these moves are only the start.
The next question that one must ask is whether school leaders are empowered to ensure that the school’s disciplinary code is followed by all without any interference from third parties.
Leading a school of several hundreds of students coming from different backgrounds demands proper management skills that cannot just be instinctive but need to be honed through formal school management training.
The inconsistent application of school rules for whatever reason is a source of annoyance to students, parents and teachers themselves.
The hierarchical system of authority in our schools makes it clear that, ultimately, it is head teachers that are responsible for the effective implementation of a disciplinary code of conduct by both students and teachers.
The teachers’ union is implying through its directives that teachers are frequently unsupported by school leaders who too often do not teach and are detached from the day-to-day realities of life in the classrooms. The skills of teachers to control a class are, of course, also important. But this can only be done if unruly behaviour by a few students is nipped in the bud.
Most teachers can put up with low- level disruption like students making silly comments, passing notes around, or using mobile phones. But the behaviour of some students in the Ħamrun school is far more serious than that. Teachers are justified in feeling frustrated by this unacceptable situation.
Head teachers should have the final say on exclusions of certain persistently undisciplined students without their decisions being overturned by third parties. Education authorities have the right to approve a code of discipline for all schools but then should keep their distance from getting involved in the execution of disciplinary measures that are in line with the agreed disciplinary code.
Not much seems to be done about eradicating the root causes of serious misbehaviour by some. Forcing demotivated students to attend school to improve truancy statistics is simply self-defeating.