NT teachers under siege: One attacked every day, figures reveal

NT TEACHERS are being threatened, abused and assaulted by students at a shocking rate of one incident per day, new government data has revealed

The Australian Education Union NT branch has called on NT Education Department CEO Vicki Baylis to help deal with a ‘growing’ problem of violence in schools

NT TEACHERS are being threatened, abused and assaulted by students at a rate of one incident per day, new government data has revealed.

The new data, which records physical, verbal and sexual violence levelled against educators in NT schools, exposes student violence as a “growing” problem according to Australian Education Union NT (AEU NT) branch president Jarvis Ryan.

NT teachers are being threatened, abused and assaulted by students at a rate of one incident per day, new government data has revealed

“The biggest threat to the health and wellbeing of our members in schools often comes from the very young people educators are legally and ethically duty bound to protect,” he said.

“Physical and verbal aggression and violence against teaching staff by students, and also by parents, is a growing problem in schools.

“Our starting point must be to say that it’s not acceptable.”

The latest figures come after NT Department of Education’s 2017/18 annual report revealed 571 reported Work Health and Safety incidents last year, 288 of which were classified as “being hit by moving objects”.

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Member for Blain Terry Mills told the NT News he believed teachers were now less safe in schools.

“I have long-standing teachers talk to me that are saying that (violence) is not improving and there seems to be an increased number of other people in the classroom to try and manage behaviour,” he said. Mr Mills said schools were “reluctant” to suspend problem students for fear they might then become risks to the community with a lack of supervision.

“A school is reluctant to suspend a student who is causing problems in the classroom because when they’re suspended from a school they’re out in the community with insufficient support,” he said.

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“It’s not seen as a consequence.

“By not managing problems in the classroom, then it doesn’t deal directly with the behaviour.”

Now, the AEU NT is calling for a national reckoning with the problem.

Mr Ryan said the AEU NT had requested the DOE chief executive Vicki Baylis table the issue of violence against teachers for discussion with her colleagues at the Australian Education Senior Officials Committee, the national senior education officers’ forum.

In response to questions from the NT News, the Education Department said there “was no evidence that indicates there is an increase of violence in school classrooms”, but admitted it was the first time it had recorded such data.

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“Any behaviour that is likely to constitute a risk of harm to any individual at school is not acceptable,” a department spokeswoman said.

“Schools have an integrated whole of school positive behaviour framework that includes a continuum of procedures that both acknowledges positive behaviour, and supports behavioural needs.”