Teenage girl taken to hospital after fight at Dingli secondary school
Girl, 14, ends up with broken nose following fight with fellow pupil
A 14-year-old girl was taken to hospital on Wednesday after another pupil broke her nose in a school fight at St Nicholas College in Dingli.
According to sources, a fight broke out between two girls, both aged 14. One girl punched the other in the face, breaking her nose.
The victim was taken to Mater Dei Hospital via ambulance for a check-up, but was later discharged.
It is not known what sparked the fight. Police were not informed of the incident and the school handled the issue internally, disciplining the attacker.
Parents of the victim have indicated they do not intend to take the matter further.
The aggressive argument comes one day after a 14-year-old boy was charged with the attempted murder of a schoolmate in connection with a stabbing at St Clare College in Pembroke.
In that case, the child was found with two improvised Molotov cocktail-style explosive devices in his schoolbag. His lawyer claims the child was incessantly bullied.
The Pembroke attack prompted calls for tougher security measures in schools, with a former minister suggesting metal detectors and a PN electoral candidate calling for former soldiers to be deployed to schools.
But others have called for a more moderate response: PN education spokesperson Justin Schembri warned against knee-jerk reactions while former president Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca wrote in a Times of Malta opinion piece that "true safety will never come from militarising our schools. It comes from understanding and addressing the emotional struggles that lead a child to lose control in the first place."
The Education Ministry has since appointed a seven-person advisory board led by a top ministry official to make recommendations on how to improve school security and student behaviour management.