Ontario: Teachers Union call on government to fund anti-violence training programs

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) on Thursday asserted that the Ontario Government should fund anti-violence training programs as well as hire mental health professionals to combat the growing violence in the schools in the region.

“We need the investments in education that will allow for the full school team to be available…It’s not just the teachers, but it’s the other supports, the mental health support, the child and youth workers,” stated Karen Littlewood, the president of OSSTF, adding that while the issue of violence in schools has been persistent in Ontario for a long time, the matters became worse than ever after the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Littlewood also emphasized on the need for principals and vice principals to have access to better training to deal with violent incidents.

“I would be happy to work with the government to look at programs that could be offered across the province for training…We’d need to make sure that those training opportunities are offered to the staff,” Littlewood further added.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act, according to Littlewood, should have a specific section for the education system.