News | Sunday, 18 January 2009

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First Aid should be obligatory for teachers – Evarist Bartolo

James Debono
Labour MP and education spokesperson Evarist Bartolo is proposing a basic knowledge of first aid as a requisite for the teaching profession.
“I was prompted to make this suggestion by persons who witnessed incidents in schools who brought to my attention the importance of having teachers who can provide immediate assistance in such cases,” Bartolo told MaltaToday.
He has raised the issue in a parliamentary question in which he asked Education Minister Dolores Cristina whether she agreed with making first aid a requisite for all teachers to strengthen health and safety in schools.
In her reply Cristina revealed that all health and safety teachers possess a first aid certificate but other teachers are not obliged to do so.
She also said teachers were encouraged to pursue a basic first aid course offered by the Education Directorate as well as by schools on a voluntary basis. No statistics currently exist on the number of teachers who are qualified in first aid.
According to Bartolo this is a serious shortcoming as it shows the lack of statistical information pervading the entire educational system.
Malta Union of Teachers president John Bencini said he disagrees with mandatory first aid courses but agreed that teachers should be encouraged to follow such courses. “Some teachers are scared of a drop of blood and one cannot force them to take the course,” Bencini said.
But the MUT actively encourages first aid awareness by offering first aid courses in its own headquarters. Bencini also proposed that health and safety awareness should be part and parcel of teachers’ professional adjournment courses. “It would be very useful if teachers are addressed by paediatricians on how to recognise the first signs of diseases like measles to avoid contagion.”

jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt

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