"The situation on the ground is very serious, and it is high time for a rethink", the Education and Science syndicate of the Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation (SEW/OGBL) said as it presented the findings of a national survey carried out between the end of January and mid-April. The union decided to conduct the survey after being regularly contacted by members who had experienced violence and felt abandoned, and what the consequences were. The union wanted to establish whether this was a structural problem rather than a series of isolated incidents. A total of 1,115 teachers responded.
The results are damning. Of the 1,115 respondents, 820 reported having experienced violence directed at them personally in the past 12 months. Of those, 38%, equating to 314 individuals, said they experienced such violence between one and five times a week.
"What really struck us was the frequency", said Joëlle Damé of SEW/OGBL. "314 people experiencing violence towards themselves once to five times a week is a structural problem, not an exception."
While students are the primary source of violent incidents, a third of respondents also reported experiencing violence from parents or guardians. Verbal violence was the most commonly cited form, but the physical dimension is equally alarming. In the past 12 months alone, 450 teachers were physically attacked. Of these, 233 sustained injuries and 64 sought medical attention as a direct result.
Many incidents go unreported with no follow-up consequences. Survey respondents cited excessive bureaucracy, the effort involved and, crucially, fear as the main reasons for staying silent. Vera Dockendorf of SEW/OGBL described a culture in which reporting violence can feel counterproductive. "People feel that if they report it, they risk receiving a dismissive response from management rather than having the root cause of the violent behaviour addressed", she said. "Many teachers feel that their hierarchy has let them down on this issue."
The union also raised concern that violence is routinely trivialised, that perpetrators are often protected over victims and that some parents have even withdrawn their children from school to protect them from violent incidents.
The SEW/OGBL is calling for a series of concrete measures. These include better preparation for teaching staff during their training, a standardised system for reporting incidents, regular statistics and an annual report monitoring where and how often violence occurs. Psychological, as well as, legal support for teachers and victims, clear guidelines applicable across all schools, awareness-raising campaigns and an anonymous reporting system are also among the union's demands.
The SEW/OGBL remains frustrated that no meaningful action has been taken so far, and said it had the distinct impression that the Ministry of Education was attempting to sweep the issue under the carpet.
