MUT calls for changes to teaching to resolve 'profession crisis'

The teaching profession in Malta is facing several hurdles due to a variety of unresolved, urgent issues including lack of teachers and Learning Support Assistants, according to the Malta Union of Teachers.

In a statement, the Union said mediocre working conditions, poor wages, and rigid regulations were factors acting as a deterrent for professionals, as the conditions are not competitive.

The situation is having a negative effect on students, as well as creating stress in the administrative areas of schools, with certain schools encouraging teachers to cut their leave short, MUT said.

“Malta has a crisis in the teaching profession due to a variety of urgent issues which remain unresolved. These include lack of teachers in core areas, such as English, Maths, Science, Physical Education and Primary, and lack of Learning Support Assistants (LSAs), which means that there is an increasing list of students with special needs not getting support they need. Interview lists for regular and supply teachers and LSAs are also getting exhausted, with officials in state schools sector and other sectors frantically trying to replace teachers and LSAs on maternity or parental leave. In some instances people are even being encouraged to cut short their leave,” MUT said. 

According to the union, other reasons for the shortage of staff include numerous major reforms in short period resulting in frequent changes of schools, delays in promoting LSAs, and the fact that post graduate certificates in education are not being offered in the form of evening classes in spite of the demand. 

The MUT also pointed out the “general failure” of the government’s inclusion policy and called for its “urgent rethinking”.

“Other issues at schools which discourage currently employed educators include … the general failure of the inclusion policy. In Malta, inclusion means only the placing of pupils with difficulties under the same roof as mainstream students while expecting schools and LSAs, often still untrained, to perform a miracle.”

Moreover, the MUT said that the government must offer good conditions to attract the best people to the profession through the agreements currently being drafted, as well as increase flexibility in employment rules for all educators.

It also proposed a curriculum reform making it more flexible for teachers to adapt to the needs of their classes, and that others institutions besides the faculty of education at the University of Malta should provide pedagogical studies.