The Union of Professional Educators (UPE) has formally declared a trade dispute with Ministry of Education, citing repeated incidents of aggressive student behaviour towards its members and a failure by management to address safety concerns adequately.

The union alleges that despite educators repeatedly raising concerns about unsafe working conditions, school administrations have been slow to act or unwilling to implement sufficient safeguards. 

In response, the UPE has issued a directive effective 19 May 2025, 

Members of the UPE are not to admit students (mainstream or statemented) into the classroom or provide support to any student who presents a health risk to educators/students or persistently disrupts the learning environment due to aggressive behaviour. Such behaviour must first be documented through a minimum of 15 working days’ worth of incident reports. These reports are to be submitted to the school administration for review; this directive may only be followed if no adequate measures have been implemented by the administration within 5 working days of the final incident report being submitted.

The UPE has called for “immediate, proactive steps” to ensure educator safety and urged constructive dialogue to resolve the dispute. The move highlights growing tensions over workplace safety in educational settings, with the union emphasising its “zero-tolerance” stance towards threats to staff physical and mental wellbeing.

The UPE is publishing the following Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all its members to adhere to.