Teachers attacked amid gangland culture

A “gangland culture” in some deprived areas is resulting in teachers being stabbed, headbutted, hit with chairs, knocked unconscious, hospitalised for broken limbs, and assaulted even while pregnant by pupils as young as 14.

The revelations were made by delegates on the final day of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland AGM yesterday. They said school management boards are failing to address the “hidden crisis” — which is being added to by cuts to guidance counsellor services.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner after the TUI voted unanimously in favour of bringing the “abuse, intimidation, and violence in their workplaces” into the open, officials from TUI’s Dublin City branch confirmed that “at least” two teachers are seriously assaulted in Dublin alone every term, to the point where ambulances have to be called.