evidence: ONE in five education workers are physically abused once a week, a survey has found. [...] :: One in three education workers experience physical abuse annually :: One in five receive physical abuse once a week :: 83 per cent have been verbally abused in the classroom :: 45 per cent of verbal abusers are parents :: 88 per cent of special education teachers have received verbal or physical abuse [...] "But if you work in one of Northern Ireland's schools in a support role, you could be one of the 51 per cent who have been subjected to a physical incident at work," she said.