27.000 teachers insured against violence 04/09/2007 00:00

4 September 2007

BRUSSELS – More than 27,000 teachers have taken out insurance that covers them for violence at school. This emerges from figures provided y the insurer Ethias, as published in the Het Belang van Limburg and Gazet van Antwerpen last Friday.

“We have noticed a large increase in the number of applications at the start of each new school year” says spokesman Edwin Hoeven. Since 1999, Ethias has included a clause to cover aggression in their policy for professional teachers. Since then there has been a three-fold increase in the number of applications for this type of insurance, up to 27,092. The interest in this policy has particularly grown this month.

‘ Teachers pay 25 Euro per year and are not only covered for violence at school” says Hoeven. “ They are also covered when students are waiting to get them outside the school.”

Whether the violence at school is actually on the increase is not certain. In the past school year, the police had to issue more summonses at schools for physical aggression such as intimidation and threats. The number of summonses rose from 2,184 to 2,500.

[Copyright Expatica News 2007]

Subject: Belgian news