Version 1 | Adopted by the College Board on 05 January 2022 | Came into effect on 01 September 2022
Ġ.F. Abela Junior College (JC) - hereinafter referred to as the ‘College’ - is very proud of its achievements with regards to diversity, equality, inclusion. Over the years, the College has increasingly become more sensitive towards issues of diversity, particularly in terms of its student and staff population and has responded to this in a variety of ways.
In 2014, the JC Diversity Working Group was set up with the aim of addressing issues related to diversity, equality and inclusion amongst the student and staff population.
In recent years, the direction adopted by the College has been towards diversity, equality, inclusion on all levels. This is particularly evident in the language adopted in official documents and forms, the way people are treated, the setting up of the aforementioned working group, admission related processes, signage, study programmes geared towards these ideals and so on. Additionally, a number of structural adjustments were made on the College Campus to make it more accessible to individuals with mobility issues and to accommodate those who identify as gender non-binary.
The College has representatives on three major UM committees, namely Access Disability Support Committee (ADSC), Gender Equality & Sexual Diversity Committee (GESDC) and the Committee for Race & Ethnic Affairs (CREA) to consolidate further the College’s commitment toward the values of diversity equality inclusion.
The College also seeks to respect the values of equality and non-discrimination in its recruitment and promotion practices. New members of staff are recruited on the basis of merit alone. Factors including, but not limited to, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, belief, sexual orientation, parental or family status, geographic origin, politics, socioeconomic background, age and ability do not contribute to or diminish the merit of the applicants.
This policy is drawn up in full respect of and in accordance with Maltese constitution and legislation related to freedom of thought, of conscience and of expression.
The College is committed to safeguard and promote diversity, equality, inclusion in all its endeavours and at all levels and spheres, be they academic, educational, administrative, social and operational.
The College is committed to provide a social environment where each and every individual is treated with respect and dignity and embraced as a unique person regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, belief, sexual orientation, parental or family status, geographic origin, political views, socioeconomic background, age and ability.
This policy aims to formally express what the College believes in and to make a positive statement of intent. It will also be used as a practical tool, which serves to guide us in our endeavours to ensure that the College will continue to promote and to practise the values of diversity, equality, inclusion.
The objectives of this policy are:
to consolidate the commitment of the College to diversity, equality and inclusion
to outline the rights and responsibilities of all those employed at, studying at, as well as visitors to the College, in accordance with Maltese equality legislation.
The policy applies to all College staff, including full-time, part-time, visiting staff as well as to all students of the College - hereinafter referred to as the ‘College Community’.
Members of the College Community should remember that they are either employees or students of the UM at all times, even beyond College hours, and as long as they are representing UM their behaviour should respect that status.
Members of the College Community have the responsibility to respect each other, comply with current legislation, respect the principles of this policy and to avoid bringing the good name of the College to disrepute at all times, including but not limited to, social media. Respectful dialogue does not mean limiting the freedom of expression of those whose ideas are in conflict, but accepting different world views. The College Community encourages the exchange of different ideas, lifestyles and thoughts, so that through dialogue, its members mature and respect different perspectives.
Situations may arise where the rights of one individual cut across the rights of another: for example, a member of staff or a student may object to gender identity on grounds of their religion or belief. The College recognises anyone’s right to hold these views, but not their manifestation in such a way that intimidates, humiliates, or is hostile or degrading to others or in any other way infringes the rights of others.
Those who visit the College as guests, volunteers, casual workers, speakers, contractors, consultants, suppliers, service providers and to any other person who visits the College for any other reason are expected to respect this policy.
The policy may be updated at any time with the approval of the College Board. It is the responsibility of all members of staff and students to be aware of any changes in the published policy on the JC website.
The College embraces diversity in all its forms and strives to promote diversity, equality, inclusion for all so that everyone may find it easier to integrate within the College Community.
The College shall seek to promote and embrace the free exchange of expression, opinion and ideas during debate and discussion of any format, and in any media. Dissenting views will not be grounds for censorship or imposition of ideologies, as long as they remain respectful of individuals’ rights.
In practice, this is sought by:
Seeking to build a College community that reflects equity and diversity in all its forms.
Providing assurance and support to victims of discrimination, bullying and harassment of the members of the College Community as well as visitors.
Promoting equal opportunities and ensuring that no person within the College Community suffers discrimination on the grounds of factors such as gender, race, religious freedom, belief, sexual orientation, parental or family status, geographic origin, political views, socioeconomic background, age and ability.
Creating and maintaining an inclusive learning and working environment in which all members of the College Community are treated fairly; where diversity is valued and discrimination challenged.
Ensuring that staff, students and their representatives are free to respectfully express their views and have adequate ways and opportunities to discuss equality, diversity and inclusion issues and to raise any concerns and suggestions in this regard.
Providing all members of the College Community with the opportunity to voluntarily participate in diversity, equality and inclusion training.
Ensuring that all members of staff and all students have equal access to all the facilities and services provided by the College and that reasonable adjustments to working, learning practices and environments are made, in order to accommodate every member of this diverse community.
Ensuring that this policy is made available to all staff and students so that their awareness of their rights and responsibilities is enhanced with regards to diversity, equality, inclusion.
Ensuring that every UM employee stationed at the College and every individual who is not a direct UM employee but who is contracted to provide a service to the College is aware of this policy and respects its principles.
Encouraging the involvement of staff, students and any other relevant stakeholders in the implementation of this policy.
Raising awareness that accountability to this policy may lie with all staff and students for their actions beyond the College official hours if the good name of the College is brought to disrepute.
Assessing and reviewing this policy and its effectiveness at least every three years.
The successful implementation of the policy depends on the cooperation of all members of the College Community. These members have a responsibility to read and understand this policy and to become familiar with its content.
Additionally, the members of the College Community have a responsibility to uphold the College’s commitment to promote equality, inclusion and embrace diversity, in line with this policy by:
treating all members of the College community as well as visitors to the College, with respect and fairness
encouraging behaviour which is in line with the values of this policy whilst standing up to behaviour that goes against
supporting and/or participating voluntarily in activities, which promote diversity equality inclusion.
The Junior College Board is ultimately accountable for the College’s compliance with this policy.
The current JC Diversity Working Group will be renamed JC Diversity Committee, hereinafter referred to as the Diversity Committee (DC).
Some members of staff have more direct and specific responsibilities to ensure that the policy is accessed, understood and implemented successfully. These include:
senior members of the administration such as the Principal, the Vice-Principal, the Area Coordinators, the Subject Coordinators and the Head of the Student Services Office (SSO)
all those who are professionally involved in staff and student support, development and supervision such as the Wellbeing Services, the Diversity Committee, the Students Support Services and the JC Continuous Professional Development Committee.
The day-to-day responsibility for the implementation of this policy is in the hands of the members of the DC. These also have the responsibility of setting a good example to the staff and students of the College by embracing diversity in practice.
Additionally, the DC shall invest efforts in awareness campaigns and educational activities amongst the College community so that these ideals become fully embodied and do not remain on paper. Participation in said activities shall always be on a voluntary basis.
The JC Administration and the Diversity Committee have the responsibility to promote this policy and its procedure in cases of discrimination amongst all staff and students.
The JC Administration shall ensure that any complaints are treated with due confidentiality.
The Diversity Committee will be supporting members of the administration to appraise the impact on diversity, equality and inclusion of any new initiatives and/or policies.
Members of the College Community or any other visiting parties have a right to make a complaint in relation to a possible infringement of this policy freely and without fear.
Any member of the College Community as well as any visitor to the College who believes to have been subjected to unfair treatment, ridicule, discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation, is to truthfully report any such incident to the Office of the Principal.
An ad hoc committee, hereinafter referred to as the Committee, will be set up by the Principal to address each complaint on its own merit. The Committee will be composed of three independent members: the Principal or their representative, a member of the Diversity Committee and a senior member of the staff such as an Area Coordinator.
The College will strive to ensure that any complaints are dealt with confidentially and fairly within five (5) working days from the receipt of the written complaint.
Criteria to be relied upon in the assessment of the severity of the case may include, but are not limited to, any or all of the following:
nature of action complained of
degree of physical and/or psychological impact
frequency of incidence.
The Committee will inform the person who allegedly infringed this policy about the reported complaint to discuss the report and give their version of events.
The Committee shall then deliberate and inform both parties of the conclusion reached. Appropriate actions will be taken according to the severity of the case.
The Committee may conclude that the complaint was unfounded. In this case the Committee shall meet with the complainant to explain the reasons and establish a way forward.
In the eventuality of a low severity case, the individual/s found in breach of this policy will be invited for a meeting by the Committee. The purpose of such a meeting is to offer opportunities to discuss diversity equality inclusion and offer the necessary support when and if needed. Nobody shall be coerced in taking these offers.
In certain cases, the College may have to resort to the support or advice of other official bodies such as The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality or any other mechanism laid out in the Equality Laws of Malta.
In case of alleged criminal actions, the College is duty bound to report the case to the police.
In some cases, both parties may be referred to internal or external professional support services as deemed necessary. Such referral may only happen if consented freely by the respective party.
The actions taken by the College as indicated in this policy do not preclude anyone from filing a complaint with the police or with other entities.
