Students to return to their classrooms on Monday after school strike ends

Schools will be opening their doors as from Monday 11 January with all health protocols in place after days of negotiations between government and school organisations.

In a joint statement by government, the Malta Union of Teachers and other education entities, the parties announced that schools will be opened with strengthened mitigation measures as from next Monday in the hopes of reducing cases in the community.

They argue that this will result from households participating in fewer social activities. “It provides more protection to children and educators and helps to suppress the pandemic nationally,” the statement reads.

Stakeholders agreed that contact tracing protocols will be strengthened, and the procedure for the presentation of sick certificates will be improved.

School staff will also be given priority in the vaccine implementation programme, with all parties to be given weekly updates on figures relating to COVID-19 in schools.

This agreement is the fruit of a meeting held earlier today between the Prime Minister, the Minister for Education and the Permanent Secretary, together with the Malta Union of Teachers, the Secretariat for Christian Education, the Church Schools Association and the Association of Independent Schools.

A working group with all parties has been created in order to continuously discuss and review all work during the pandemic.

MUT ordered a two-day strike among state school educators on Wednesday evening amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. The union requested that teachers ought to go online with their teaching, but this was turned down by government.

In retaliation, the education ministry warned educators that the school strike is illegitimate and insisted that they received no health advice on keeping schools shut, despite MUT saying otherwise.

The joint statement was signed by the government and all education entities mentioned above.

Opposition reacts

The Nationalist Party welcomed the agreement between educators and government as it provides peace of mind for many parents who had to take care of their children over the past two days.

However, the party criticised the lack of transparency with regards to information on the health of educators and students.

“The industrial dispute could have been avoided if there were more caution, sincere dialogue and common sense in the best interest of children, parents and educators.