Assistant school head 'attacked'

An assistant head at the Birzebbuga state primary school was yesterday assaulted by a pupil's parents, who also threatened and verbally abused senior staff, Malta Union of Teachers president John Bencini said.

This is the third attack by parents on school teachers this year. All incidents were in primary schools.

Mr Bencini said that in the morning, one of the assistant heads of Prof. Anton Tabone Primary and Kindergarten School had politely asked a five-year-old girl's mother to send the girl to school dressed as a child and not as an adult.

The girl's parents were waiting for her outside the school at 2.30 p.m. Once she had come out they went back in and made straight for the assistant head's office.

Mr Bencini said the father physically attacked one of the assistant heads and used obscene language and threats against the head teacher. He was only kept from attacking him physically by the two assistant heads.

Some children who were in the office started to cry.

The police were called in but by the time they arrived the parents had left. Police action is, however, being pursued, Mr Bencini said.

He said this was another serious incident which emphasised the need for more security in schools.

The MUT had had enough of appealing to the authorities to take the security issue in schools seriously and it reiterated its appeal for the courts to be harsher in their judgments in order to serve as a deterrent.

Mr Bencini again called for the establishment of a school warden system for safer schools and pointed out that these incidents were unfortunately becoming more frequent.