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I had to write following an article published in another newspaper on the 8 March 2006 covering the teachers’ rally and directives given by the Malta Union of Teachers in connection with the St Joseph Lyceum incident concerning the 14-year-old student who allegedly hit a teacher. We have only read one side of the story and no one has related the side of the story from the student’s point of view. What had triggered that reaction of the student in class that day?!
Whilst in no way do I condone any form of violence, we must not overlook the fact that the directives given by the MUT are way out of line from what the educational system is set to achieve.
This child has already been punished by being suspended from school. So what is this child of 14 supposed to do, if he is at school and being ignored by the institution that is supposed to be educating him and teaching him? We teach by example. Is this directive of not teaching or speaking or communicating with the boy in any way, notwithstanding that he has already been punished, setting a good example of Christian teaching?
My concern as a mother is that in this manner and with such directives, we are paving the way for such children to truly become outcasts of society. Is this what the aim of the MUT is? Is this what our educational system is set to achieve? If so, who is going to protect our children? And if there are these “problem” children, is it not wiser to have the necessary expertise, such as child psychologists, present in schools, to be able to direct such children? Let us not forget that the children of today are our country’s future.
Monica Azzopardi
St Paul’s Bay
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