Condemnation and increased police presence after street fight outside school

The Department of Education on Tuesday condemned any form of violence and insisted schools act swiftly and appropriately whenever incidents occur.

It was reacting after Gibraltar NASUWT raised urgent concerns on Monday following the circulation of videos on social media showing a violent altercation between two secondary school students, during which teachers and members of the public were required to intervene. 

The teachers’ union said the incident highlighted the absence of a comprehensive Safe Handling Policy and reiterated that the Department of Education has not provided school staff with the policy despite repeated requests. 

Gibraltar NASUWT urged “decisive and collaborative” work to improve safety in schools.

“The recent altercation is deeply regrettable but not reflective of the values or conduct of the vast majority of our young people, who demonstrate respect and responsibility every day,” the Gibraltar Government said in a statement.

“Both the Government and the Department stand firmly behind and supports all the staff in the schools who have to deal with wide ranging issues, including difficult situations such as these, the repercussions of which are aggravated nowadays due to the dissemination of videos.”

“It is also important to note that the incident in question took place outside school premises.”

On Tuesday the Minister for Education, Dr John Cortes, called an urgent meeting with the Department, schools and the Royal Gibraltar Police and was also in direct communication with NASUWT to discuss and act on areas of concern.

The RGP said it was aware of the videos, adding response team officers were called to the scene at the time of the incident but upon arrival, no altercation was in progress.

Enquiries were conducted, and the individuals involved in the incident were identified.

“The incident is currently under investigation,” the RGP said.

“The RGP is also liaising closely with the Head Teachers of Bayside and Westside schools, stepping up high-visibility patrols outside the schools at finishing time, and fully supports the schools' stance that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.”

For its part, Unite the Union also condemned the incident and reaffirmed its stance on conflict resolution.

“Education professionals work very hard to prepare young people to resolve conflict before the event through civilised dialogue and negotiation,” Unite said.

“As is evident, even when specific individuals ignore this guidance, staff do not abnegate responsibility but instead intervene as best they can to defuse the situation.”
 
“On this occasion, staff who were casually passing by, together with senior colleagues who were alerted to the fight in progress, cooperated to stop the violence as soon as possible.”

The Unite Education Branch applauded the work of all staff in their efforts to pre-empt such events.

It said the intervention by teachers to defuse the altercation “speaks volumes as to their dedication and commitment towards our youth”.

“The Unite Education Branch calls on all colleagues, parents, and relevant agencies to continue to work together to guide and coach our young, and in particular the individuals concerned, so that they may better understand conflictive situations and learn how to avoid escalation,” the union added.