General Legislation Committee Discusses Bill to Penalize Attacks on Educational Staff
The General Legislation Committee within the Assembly of the People's Representatives (ARP) dedicated its session yesterday, Thursday, to hearing the initiator (a group of deputies) regarding Bill No. 46/2025 on penalizing attacks against educational staff.
Objective of the Bill
Representatives of the initiator, a group of deputies, explained that the proposed bill aims to combat the phenomenon of violence, which has seen a constant increase in recent years, with educational staff - including teachers and professors in colleges, high schools, and higher education institutions, as well as various educational bodies - being the victims. They added that the objective of this proposal is to protect educational and teaching staff from all bodies against attacks and to protect educational and teaching spaces from further spread of crime, which would contribute to improving the quality and effectiveness of education in Tunisia.
Proposed Amendments
The bill proposes adding a paragraph to Article 218 of the Penal Code, which is located in the chapter "Offenses against persons" and in its section "On violence and threats". According to the representatives of the initiator, this would result in an aggravated penalty if the victim belongs to the education and teaching bodies.
Reactions from Deputies
Deputies present welcomed the bill, emphasizing its importance as it addresses the phenomenon of violence, particularly in educational environments and specifically against educational staff. They stressed the need for radical treatment of this phenomenon, exploring its main causes to find appropriate solutions. Several deputies questioned why the bill did not propose a specific text instead of amending Article 218 of the Penal Code, while others believed that dedicating a special paragraph to educational staff within Article 218 would undermine the principle of equality.
Need for Statistics and Data
Deputies highlighted the need to provide essential statistics and data on this phenomenon to develop a comprehensive and integrated vision for protecting educational staff. A number of deputies called for revising the bill to improve and modify it, with the possibility of expanding it to define educational staff, the targeted crime, and its scope.
Expression of Solidarity with Gabès
At the beginning of the session, deputies addressed the developments in the situation in the city of Gabès and the protests and tensions it is experiencing due to the catastrophic environmental situation caused by the production units of the chemical complex in the region, expressing their total solidarity with the inhabitants of Gabès regarding this deplorable situation.
