In response to the incident that took place in a Gozitan primary school and resource centre, where an educator suffered a fractured arm during an assault by a student, the Commissioner for the Rights of Persons with Disability, Samantha Pace Gasan expressed her solidarity with the Educator concerned.

“The CRPD takes into account concerns about the protection of workers and other students, students with disabilities should not be excluded or segregated because of their disability. The continuous training of workers in schools so that we really have a more inclusive society is essential,” she said.

Ms. Pace Gasan said that she will not be commenting on this particular incident, “however to prevent these incidents, disabled people who have tendencies to express themselves in a way that is not normally acceptable in society, should be heard and provided with the necessary support.”

She stressed that Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, which was transposed into the laws of Malta in Chapter 627, the Act on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability “speaks clearly about the right for disabled people to have equal opportunities to access education, in an inclusive environment and without discrimination.”

Ms. Pace Gasan insisted that “a person with a disability is a person in a complete way, including their interests, desires and talents, but also with emotions and thoughts that may be worrying them.”

“Those who provide the services should take into consideration the possibility that people with disabilities have communication challenges and have more sensitive senses that agitate them when in situations or environments that they are not comfortable in or during times that are difficult for them,” she added.

Ms Pace Gasan went on to say that it is “important to make the necessary accommodations to ensure that the environment they are in is comfortable and fully accessible, and that the services related to communication are operating in the best way so that more disabled people have the opportunity to explore the means of communication, including technological ones, of their preference.”

She also warned that “the media should be responsible in its reporting, in order to avoid sensationalism and stigma against people with disabilities and their families.”

Commissioner Pace Gasan stressed the importance of continuous dialogue in order to address these challenges, in the interest of all.

She concluded by saying that “the CRPD is working to establish a working group with the Ministry of Education, as stipulated in the National Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disability; with this reality being considered one of the first priorities to be addressed in schools.”

During a meeting yesterday between the Education Ministry and the MUT, the Ministry said that it is “setting up a committee to establish the facts in relation to this case.”

The MUT said that it proposed to the Ministry “to set up a review board in order to analyse the difficult situations that the educators are facing in all the resource centres. This should lead to necessary recommendations to improve the situation.”

The Ministry accepted this request and the board will also have a representative from the MUT, the union said.

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