The government is working on legislation to increase the penalties for violence in schools, The Sunday Times of Malta has been told.
According to a spokeswoman for the Education Ministry, the government is working on new legislation, the ultimate aim being that assaults on teachers are considered “a much more serious offence”.
No details on what the new laws might entail and when they will be unveiled were provided. However, in replies to questions by The Sunday Times of Malta in the wake of an argument between parents outside a middle school recently, the ministry spokeswoman insisted that the government wanted to also ensure a balance is achieved between creating a safe, open and welcoming school environment and making sure school staff are safe.
“In recent years CCTV cameras were installed – there are 1,550 security cameras in 90 schools – and the police presence is constant around schools at the beginning and end of the school day.” she said.
“Doors that provide school access are restricted, intercoms were installed and trained receptionists are ever-present.”
Trained security in school reception areas
Earlier this year, a head of school had to be hospitalised after she was assaulted by a student’s grandmother, prompting the Malta Union of Teachers to express concern that teachers were facing aggression regularly. Meanwhile the grandmother, who admitted to making a mistake, was fined €4,000, handed a suspended six-month jail term and banned from the Vittoriosa school for two years.
Contacted about the government’s decision to introduce harsher penalties, a spokesman for the MUT said that the union had proposed such changes to the law.
The spokesman said that while the MUT had called for meetings with both the Education and Justice Ministries since learning of the government’s intention to amend the law, no such meeting had yet been held.
“With regards to measures being taken to ensure safety and security, the MUT is pressing for more substantial measures including the continued presence of a trained security officer in schools and reception areas. Currently some schools do not even have a receptionist to begin with,” the MUT spokesman said.
The union has also requested that the presence of the police at the beginning and end of the school day be stepped up, insisting that not all schools had police officers present every day.
Concerning whether the MUT believes that a series of measures listed by the government has helped address the situation, the spokesman was quick to say that the “results speak for themselves”.