The media occasionally report incidents where teachers are attacked physically or verbally by students or parents. Physical abuse against educators by officials giving service to a school are rarer but equally unacceptable.
Though official local statistics about violence against educators are scarce, teachers’ unions confirm that their members are often victimised or experience harassment by various people they come in contact with. Some report damage to their property, others experience physical attacks or harassment in the form of obscene gestures, verbal threats, intimidation and obscene remarks.
An incident that became public knowledge recently involved a security guard serving at the Higher Secondary School in Naxxar who allegedly assaulted an assistant head who told him off for smoking on the campus. The Union of Professional Educators claims the case is being covered up and the assistant head has been transferred.
In a laconic statement, the Education Ministry insisted the matter had been tackled at the local level by the college principal and that the assistant head was not transferred but, instead, relieved of his supervisory duties over the guard involved in the incident. The ministry statement failed to express support for the assistant head who was trying to ensure that discipline was enforced on all those who frequented the school.
One needs to ask what the cost to the school and the community is when an official trying to carry out his duties is abused verbally and physically. One big issue is teacher attrition. Violence against educators is undoubtedly one reason why fewer professional persons are attracted to the teaching profession. Educators cannot perform their job efficiently if they are threatened. Firm leadership by the school’s administration is required to ensure a positive learning environment.
Students observe and learn respect for authority by what they see happening in their school. According to the Union of Professional Educators, the school management failed to investigate the security guard and, instead, called the assistant head in for an interrogation. It is right in insisting that the permanent secretary at the Education Ministry should hold a proper investigation on this incident to establish the facts.
The education authorities should also consider pre-service training for teachers and school administrators to develop a skill set that can at least help manage conflicts before they escalate. With many incidents of violence against educators coming from students and their parents, the school should also have access to professional psychologists who can help both the administrators and teachers understand the risks of violence a particular school environment can present.
An improvement in the way educators are treated will only materialise if senior policymakers show empathy and commitment to those who work on the coalface of our educational system. Teachers often face students who come from deprived backgrounds, parents who may have little appreciation of teachers’ role in the education of their children and external service providers who may not understand the sensitive role of educators in a school environment.
It is wrong to write off such abusive behaviour against educators as freak incidents that will soon be forgotten. Success in education depends on how the relevant authorities and the community value educators. Educators always deserve respect.
This is a Times of Malta print editorial