314 teachers are afraid to return to school

The results of a national survey conducted by the SEW/OGBL trade union between late January and mid-April point to a serious crisis in safety within educational institutions. Of the 1,115 respondents, 820 reported that they had personally experienced acts of violence in the past 12 months. The most alarming fact is the frequency of incidents: 314 teachers (around 38% of those affected) are subjected to aggression between one and five times a week. Joëlle Damé, a representative of SEW/OGBL, emphasised that such scale indicates the structural nature of the problem, rather than isolated exceptions.

Statistics show that pupils are the main source of threats, although a third of those surveyed also cited aggressive behaviour on the part of parents or guardians. Whilst verbal abuse remains the most common form, physical violence is a cause for no less concern. Over the past year, 450 teachers have been attacked, with 233 sustaining physical injuries and 64 requiring specialist medical care. Nevertheless, a ‘culture of silence’ persists within the educational sector, driven not only by bureaucratic complexities but also by fear of management’s reaction.

Vera Dockendorf of SEW/OGBL noted that many teachers feel abandoned by hierarchical structures. Often, lodging a formal complaint leads to dismissive treatment from the school administration, which prefers to ignore the incident rather than address the root causes of the violence. The trade union expressed grave concern that aggression is routinely trivialised, and that the interests of the perpetrators are often prioritised over the protection of victims. In some cases, parents are forced to withdraw their children from school to shield them from an aggressive environment.

Against the backdrop of the Ministry of Education’s inaction, the trade union has put forward a set of demands for reforming the safety system. The measures include specialised staff training, the introduction of a unified reporting system, and the publication of annual statistical reports on incidents. The trade union insists on providing teachers with psychological and legal support, establishing anonymous channels for submitting complaints, and conducting nationwide awareness-raising campaigns. SEW/OGBL emphasises that the state’s continued disregard of the issue is unacceptable and requires an immediate review of approaches to managing the school environment.