Claims of widespread non-payment of teachers' salaries disputed by English schools group

The group representing English language schools has disputed claims by the educators’ union that most teachers are being denied their monthly pay amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The Federation of English Language Schools of Malta (FELTOM) said that, while it did not condone any withholding of teachers’ payments, the allegations by the union that this was a widespread issue were incorrect.

FELTOM were on Wednesday reacting to a statement from the Union of Professional Educators (UPE) yesterday claiming that its members in the TEFL industry received no pay for the hours they worked in March, a situation which has left them in significant financial difficulty.

UPE also said that TEFL teachers were being asked to continue carrying out their teaching duties online, despite not being guaranteed payment for their services.

“In response to a statement issued by the Union of Professional Educators (UPE), the Federation of English Language Schools of Malta (FELTOM) wishes to clearly, openly and unequivocally state that it does not condone the alleged actions of any English Language Schools reneging on their obligation to pay teachers wages or in any shape manner or form,” FELTOM said.

FELTOM acknowledged that the TEFL industry had been amongst the worst hit by the coronavirus situation, but said that the UPE had been trying to take advantage of the situation by making it seem that the problem was commonplace.

“FELTOM wishes to urge UPE to stop trying to take advantage of this unfortunate situation and refrain from giving the impression that the alleged incident is commonplace amongst all local ELT schools,” the Federation said.

The Federation urged the UPE “to refrain from being sensational and instead of generalising, report these isolated instances to the relevant authorities to verify and investigate.”

“If it truly has the industry’s well-being and survival at heart it should do its best to channel its efforts constructively towards ensuring all operators in this sector survive these unprecedented times which are proving difficult for everyone involved.”

It underlined, however, that “if work is indeed being carried out, then wage too must be paid out.”

FELTOM went on to note that the government had taken up a number of its proposals, namely wage supplements for all full-time, part-time and part-time casual employees, tax incentives for organisations, and bank loan moratoria and rent payment deferrals for schools and staff.

Despite this, it lamented that to date no funding had reached any of the English language schools since the government had announced its schemes over two weeks ago.