Teachers at San Ġorġ Preca Boys Secondary School in Ħamrun will be reporting for work one hour late on Friday as their union registered a trade dispute with the Education Ministry.

Malta Union of Teachers president Kevin Bonello said reports were received about the “unbearable” state of affairs at the school (Lyceum) for a number of months.

“Members are facing a situation where they cannot do their work without continuous disruptions, threats and serious misbehaviour by individuals or groups of students,” he said.

This newspaper reported last December that the school had started implementing a tailored programme targeting the behavioural problems of a handful of boys who were disrupting classes.

The union cannot accept a situation where teachers cannot conduct their work in a safe working environment

At the time, the principal of San Ġorġ Preca College, James Camilleri, confirmed that the Ħamrun school had, in the previous scholastic year, experienced an increase in problems brought about by the unruly students – about eight of them – who were bullying other children, disrupting lessons, using vulgar language and disrespecting teachers.

Speaking at a press conference in front of the school yesterday, Mr Bonello said the incidents demonstrated an “utter lack of respect for authority” and that the industrial action would include all teaching grades.

“The union cannot accept a situation where teachers cannot conduct their work in a safe working environment. The MUT also expects that the school is urgently supported in addressing the situation.”

Mr Bonello called for CCTV coverage in the school’s common areas and better communication between classrooms and the office of the headmaster as short-term fixes to the problem.

“In the long term, we would like to see modifications to the college system such that it will no longer be tied solely to geography but include different areas of specialisation from which students can choose, particularly in the case of vocational subjects,” he said.

Part of the problem in the case of the Ħamrun school was that the catchment area included a number of localities with a high rate of social problems, he said, leading to a higher number of students from troubled backgrounds than the school was equipped to deal with.

The Education Ministry said in reaction that a lot of work had already been done – and continued to be made – on the problem of bad behaviour in the school, which, it acknowledged, was a recurring issue over the last few years.

“The discussion of the specific cases the union refers to must be done in the context of a broader debate on discipline in schools. A lot of work has been done by the Directorate [for Educational Services] and the Office of the Principal as well as the school itself, with a number of initiatives implemented on the basis of a report on the situation at the school, on the educational level as well as the social one, which is making the difference,” the ministry said.

It acknowledged there was no easy solution, adding it had to ensure the priority remained the good of the children.

“Keeping them further away from an educational structure is not the solution to these challenges,” it said.