A secondary teacher who was made aware of homophobic comments made by a student about him is calling for non-verbal assaults to be recognised by the Department of Education so teachers can avail of assault leave.
Daniel Howard is a Dublin-based teacher who addressed the second day of the ASTI’s annual conference in the City.
Daniel told the 500 gathered delegates that only physical assaults are currently recognised, meaning teachers who are the victims of a non-physical assault and want to take time off must use their general sick leave.
His motion on workplace safety including protection from harassment on the basis of ethnicity, disability, sexuality and gender was passed unanimously and the Union will write to the Department of Education.
Speaking to RedFM News at the ASTI conference, Daniel Howard outlines why the motion was brought forward:
"There was a lot of members in our branch coming forward with issues of different forms of assault at their schools and experiences that they had had; that was one of the things. Then my own experience from the very start of my teaching career, I was the victim of homophobic abuse- non-physical- it was dealt with very well by my school but at the same time it added to the stress of my early teaching career."
