Updated 7pm, adds Commissioner's statement

An assistant school head suffered a broken arm in a scuffle with a student at a special needs school in Gozo on Tuesday.

The Malta Union of Teachers announced the incident in a brief statement on Wednesday which said that an educator was assaulted by a student and now faced the risk of permanent disability. 

The MUT did not provide any details about the school in question. 

It later said the government was setting up a committee to look into the case, and a separate review board to assess difficult situations at resource centres.

Sources told Times of Malta that the incident involved a teenager with a disability that occurred at a special needs school in Sannat.    

The union condemned the incident, which is being investigated by the police.

It also requested an urgent meeting with the Education Minister.

Following the meeting, the union said it had been informed that a committee was being set up to "establish the facts of this case". 

MUT said it had insisted the minister supports the educator who suffered the broken arm and the other educators at the school.

It had also proposed a review board to analyse difficult situations faced by educators at all resource centres.

"This should lead to the necessary recommendations to improve the situation. The ministry upheld this request and the board will include a representative of the union," it added. 

Replying to questions by Times of Malta, the MUT said it received reports of aggressive behaviour on a weekly basis and tackled the reported cases with the respective employers immediately.

"Reports vary from physical aggression, where educators suffer physical injuries, to verbal aggression which is a daily occurrence."

A number of cases were not reported by educators due to fear of being made responsible for the aggressive behaviour suffered, the union said.  

In a statement in the evening, Samantha Pace Gasan, the Commissioner for the Rights of People with a Disability, expressed solidarity with the educator concerned but called on the media to be responsible in their reportage so as not to create stigma towards the disabled and their families.

She said that to avoid similar incidents, disabled people who expressed themselves in ways not considered normally acceptable in society should be listened to and provided with the necessary support.

She called for workers in schools to be given continuous training for a really inclusive society.