Education condemns the homophobic attack on the Andratx teacher: "We have a lot of work to do"

PalmThe Minister of Education, Antoni Vera, has condemned therecent homophobic attack on a teacher at IES Baltasar Porcel in Andratx that ARA Balears exclusively revealed. “We are aware of the problems that are arising in the area of teachers, and that is why we have launched a 360 wellbeing plan,” he explained. “We will work on teacher wellbeing. We are a very large group, with diverse problems. We have to reinforce the role of the teacher. If the Ministry and Congress have just created a teacher statute, we also have to take steps in this direction.” Regarding the Andratx incident, he assured that

Vera has accepted that measures must be taken to curb the increase in hate crimes committed by young people. "We have a lot of work to do at the student level. We have counselors, psychopedagogues and tutors, and also specific subjects, but there is still a long way to go. There are teaching hours in which we must continue to work on coexistence, and we are considering promoting specific training for Secondary and Vocational Training students for the coming year.”

Students from two centers

The aggression that triggered these measures consisted of the creation of a fake Google Classroom account by 4th-year ESO students, with the participation of students from CC Ramon Llull, from which sexual images and insults directly referencing the teacher were disseminated. The events became public on a Wednesday, and that same afternoon the school principal filed a complaint with the Civil Guard. The following day, an emergency staff meeting was convened and the affected teacher also formalized his complaint. The investigation remains open.

The staff meeting was photographed dressed in black as a sign of support for the teacher, while some suspected students mocked the situation. In a manifesto, the staff meeting denounces that this attack is part of a dynamic of “frequent disrespect and verbal aggression” towards teachers and that these behaviors “erode the basic principles of coexistence”. The Department of Educational Inspection of the Conselleria has already activated the corresponding protocols and an inspector has been dispatched to the center. Unions have condemned the aggression.