In his 20 years of teaching, this was the first time that he was involved in such a violent scene in class.

“Over the past four weeks, the class had to prepare and submit a class assignment as per procedure. The student (student N) did not even print the front sheet which had been provided months before the assignment. He attended class and did not want to work.”

“The situation got complicated when no one from his class wanted to work with him although I tried to encourage his peers repeatedly to work with him. I also corresponded with student N to help him understand the task.”

On the day of the incident, Mr KC asked student N where his work was but “he tried to be funny” and said it was on his laptop.

“The work involved a class-based assignment which is handwritten. When I asked where the front sheet was, he said that he left it at home. I reminded him that this was the last day to finish off the work. Instead of apologising he started waving his hands saying “għax int ilek tħawwad id-dati…xbajt tħawwad (you’ve been mixing up the dates, I’m sick of you mixing up the dates)”.

“This was followed by swearing and using offensive language and that is when I then told him to leave the class. He remained seated and did not want to leave and what followed was the aggression and the name-calling and insults by student N.”

The lecturer then went to a clinic for medical treatment and has an appointment scheduled at Mater Dei for scans to determine if there are hidden fractures.

“I have received ample support from my colleagues, students and management. I am an educator and I only want the best for my students, including student N. I pledge to MCAST to continue to provide him all support needed as I have provided him for the past months.”

Footage of the altercation circulated on social media. It shows an escalating scene with the teacher shouting at a student telling him to leave the class while the student was refusing. The teacher then slammed on the desk and the student rebutted by hitting him in the face.

MCAST filed a police report following the incident.

Meanwhile, a debate was prompted about whether the student should be expelled or just given community service.

A protest was further held by the MUT in solidarity with the lecturer earlier today.

What do you make of this development?