Teachers are getting pushed around and need insurance cover, according to the Union of Professional Educators.

Addressing a press conference outside the Office of the Prime Minister, union president Graham Sansone said both indemnity insurance, and coverage against injury and loss of earnings were being proposed as requirements.

“The teaching profession has changed over the years. The truth is that insurance was needed years ago and the risks and threats facing educators today are very different. We cannot continue to avoid this reality,” he said.

The union recently met Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Education Minister Evarist Bartolo to discuss the matter and they had been “receptive”.

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“The next step is for us to come up with more concrete proposals which we will be handing over later today (Monday),” union director Rita Catania said.

The union had not yet met with insurance brokers to discuss the matter.

'The teaching profession has become one riddled with safety concerns.' Photo: Shutterstock

Teachers, Ms Catania said, were being harassed and often made to work in climates of fear.

Security standards in many of the island’s schools were dismal, with gates often left unlocked and unguarded.

Aggressive parents or guardians could walk into a school and try take the law into their own hands - as had happened in recent months, the union warned as it called for the appointment of security guards.

Read: Police called in as student, school official fight at Qormi school

Union financial officer George Debono told reporters that the teaching profession had become one riddled with safety concerns.

“If we want to continue attracting people to this profession, we need to make it safe and attractive,” he said, adding that many teachers had resigned in recent months due to worsening safety concerns.

It was also time for insurance cover in cases of long leave that saw teachers put on half pay or no pay.

“It is about time that this issue is addressed,” Mr Sansone said.

Last week, the Malta Union of Teachers also formally asked for insurance cover for teachers while at school.