No one blamed for beating of African student
The ugly side of racism has resurfaced in a place where state officials and public leaders had hoped it would be swept under the carpet – in our schools.
One would have expected the current administration to learn from the fiasco that saw a killer escape from hospital and (only) the Minister of Justice taking the blame. That said, the Minister of Education should have demanded the heads of the irresponsible teachers and headmaster who remained helpless when an African-born schoolgirl was beaten by her schoolmates.
Is it not about time someone was punished for this abhorrent act against a defenseless child, with many others like her often targeted by youngsters who know nothing about tolerance and inter-cultural dialogue, something that the future of this island is supposed to be based upon.
The easiest target to take the blame would be the police. But you cannot have boys in blue patrolling every school playground during break. Nor could they arrest a bunch of hooligans that everyone knows will be released because of family ties to high-ranking people in political parties or in the government.
The next best target would have to be the Minister of Education himself, but just as with the police, he cannot be expected to be at every one of the 2,000 public schools at the same time.
We can even blame the parents for abandoning family values and the proper upbringing of their children at home. But then again, we cannot have mommies and daddies mulling around school grounds to make sure that their loved one is not beaten black and blue by a bunch of rowdy racists.
So, that leaves us with the great number of public servants entrusted with the education of our children – the teachers. That is what they are paid to do: educate our children, especially the ones whose parents may not have any knowledge about other races, nations or religions.
But that also implies that the teachers themselves ought to know a think or two about why some students look or sound different than the others.
University of Cyprus Rector Stavros Zenios put it very well at a recent lecture: “Cyprus society is becoming multi-cultural and diversity is good for our economy that is already suffering from low growth in the workforce due to an ageing population and low birth rate.”
So, let’s live with the fact that ‘foreigners’ are an integral part of society and a necessity for our economy. Those who don’t like the idea, like the teachers in the school where the beating took place, don’t deserve to be teachers.
Perhaps they should become missionaries… to Africa!
