Clifton Grima says Pembroke school stabbing could not have been predicted

School authorities could not have predicted this week’s stabbing at a Pembroke secondary school, Education Minister Clifton Grima has said.

“If you tell me what happened could have been prevented from the data we had, I would say no,” Grima told radio host Andrew Azzopardi on Saturday.

A 14-year-old boy is facing charges of attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed a boy his age with a knife. He is pleading not guilty. 

Following the incident, several have called for the introduction of metal detectors in schools and increased security, including employing retired army officers.

Others warned against such measures and on Saturday morning, Grima said he was against “knee-jerk reactions that do not keep the well-being of our students in mind.”

“Let’s keep our schools being schools,” Grima said. “What happened on Monday was a very grave and serious episode but does not represent what really happens in schools, in which tens of thousands of students attend,” Grima said.

Grima said that schools are a microcosm of society, and just as incidents happen outside of school walls, they can happen inside them.

He said the government is fast-tracking guidelines to better detect some behavioural indicators and prevent escalations.

“Instead of implementing it in September, we will do so in the first quarter of next year.”

However, Grima said this new structure would not have been able to prevent Monday’s case, “as nothing indicated this.”

In a separate incident, a 15-year-old girl was charged in court on Friday with causing slight injuries to a schoolmate at the Dingli Secondary School.

Reacting, Grima said this was a completely different case to the Pembroke episode.

“Let’s point out a difference between the two cases. Children push each other not only in school but also during extracurricular activities,” Grima said.