ADR MP Fernand Kartheiser referred to statistics from the 2016/2017 academic year when he submitted a number of queries as part of his parliamentary question addressed to Minister of Education Claude Meisch and Minister for Internal Security François Bausch.
In 2016/2017, there were 144 meetings of disciplinary councils in secondary schools throughout Luxembourg. Whilst the number is dropping, Kartheiser stressed that the issue remains and must not be minimised. Kartheiser queried the two ministers on the options available to teaching staff in responding to violent incidents.
The response to the parliamentary question highlighted that the number of reports made about violence in schools had remained constant between 2014 and 2018. In 2014, there were 70 reports of incidents and four years later, there were 88. Reports can be made by students, teachers, or other members of school staff.
In 2015, the Pisa study concerning the well-being of 15-year-olds revealed that 3.5% of Luxembourgish youths had experienced violence at the hands of their fellow students. This number is below the OECD average of 4.3%.
The ministers confirmed that a quarter of the cases dealt with by the disciplinary council concerned violent acts. The ministries have reinforced staff and ambulant services in schools as well as introduced socio-therapeutic centres. The ministers highlighted that violence expressed by children in primary school is often how these children express psychological distress. As a result, schools must provide adequate psycho-social support.
If a violent student causes an acute crisis, then the teaching staff must decide on which type of help to pursue, whether that is the police or medical services. In extreme cases, usually classified as putting the student in question or other students and staff's safety at risk, the teaching staff must inform the public prosecutor's office.
The ministers highlighted that in extreme situations, the priority is to protect all present from any violence, including the student in question.
