Teachers seek legal support as aggression rises in Latvian schools

Teachers in Latvia are increasingly facing aggression from students and their parents, LSM reported, citing TV Kurzeme. A teacher at Ventspils Technology Secondary School has launched an initiative calling on the city municipality to establish a legal support system for local educators.

<pThe initiative was submitted on the Mana Balss platform. It needs 300 teachers’ signatures to be considered by the Ventspils City Council, but has so far received 50.

The Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees says it has received many reports from teachers who no longer feel safe at work. Union chair Inga Vanaga described incidents in which students threw objects, pushed chairs and tables, and hit a teacher’s leg with a chair. In one case, a toy thrown in a preschool broke a teacher’s glasses.

Vanaga said these were not the most serious cases and that teachers often do not report incidents because they fear losing their jobs or facing criticism from colleagues and parents.

Initiative author Svetlana Jakovicka said a teacher can be left without legal representation when a student’s parents have lawyers to defend their interests. She also argued that existing school procedures for addressing behaviour are slow and ineffective, and called for immediate responses to verbal abuse and insults.

The municipality said it had received no serious reports of incidents at schools and had not been informed about Jakovicka’s initiative.