NGOs rip apart Caruana Carabez’s ‘simplistic’ claims on ethnic gangs and bullying

A group of social NGOs have lambasted comments about “ethnic gangs” by the Commissioner for Education in his annual report as ‘careless’ and ‘misinformed’.

Charles Caruana Carabez expressed concern at the rise of group-bullying by what he termed ethnic gangs in schools, and even at what he claimed were additional rights given to persons with disabilities.

Caruana Carabez claimed that the fact that foreign students hailed from war-torn countries and did not speak English or Maltese, was the reason for the rise in bullying.

The NGOs, among others Aditus Foundation, African Media Association, Catholic Voices Malta, and Moviement Grafitti, said the commissioner’s recommendations ‘seriously flawed’. 

“The Commissioner’s analysis provides a one-sided perspective that disregards the growing evidence based on the experiences of migrant and ethnic minority students in our schools. It is disconcerting that his evaluation appears to be steeped in cultural stereotypes and hearsays that fail to capture the complexity of the context.”

The NGOs said the experiences and realities experienced by students had been over-simplified. 

They said Caruana Carabez ignored the strengths presented by pluricultural and plurilingual classrooms. “We believe that a classroom environment embracing different worldviews and cultural practices, encourages students to absorb knowledge and skills necessary to navigate an increasingly globalised world.”

They also accused the commissioner of advocating ‘separation’ and ‘segregation’. 

While Caruana Carabez observed that new aspects of bullying within ethnic groups could not have been predicted, the NGO said he had failed to note the 2014 national policy on bullying, which states that migrant children and children with an ethnic background were vulnerable and more susceptible to bullying.

“The Education Commissioner fails to assess whether this policy is achieving its aims in relation to the victims and perpetrators of bullying. He also fails to examine whether any institution is responsible for having failed to respond to a migration phenomenon which was by no means unpredictable or unexpected,” the NGOs said.

In his report, the Education Commissioner also seems to misinterpret the nature of fundamental human rights, the NGOs said, when he complained of disabled students being granted more rights.

“Making an argument for equity rather than equality, he confuses matters by stating that, through equity, persons with disabilities are ‘given more rights’. We are keen to underline that persons with disabilities are entitled to exercise all the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights embodied in the United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” the NGOs said.

“Contrary to the Commissioner’s understanding, affirmative action does not result in giving any person more rights.”

They said no mention of the fundamental human right to education in Caruana Carabez’s report. “This omission is particularly worrying since the Education Commissioner’s role is to empower all students by providing tools against maladministration, improper discrimination or abuse of power.”

The Office of the Ombudsman and House of Representatives have also been urged to ignore Caruana Carabez’s findings and recommendations.  “Our children deserve better. Our students deserve better.”

The NGOs supporting the statement are: aditus foundation, African Media Association, Catholic Voices Malta, The Critical Institute, Dean’s Office Faculty of Education, Dean’s Office Faculty for Social Wellbeing, Department of Gender Studies, Foundation for Shelter and Support to Migrants, Integra Foundation, Isles of the Left, Jesuit Refugee Service, Kopin, Malta Emigrants Commission, Moviment Graffitti, The People for Change Foundation, Richmond Foundation, Right 2 Smile, Solidarity with Migrants Group and Spark 15.