Updated | MUT says new law will revoke teachers' permanent warrants

MUT president Marco Bonnici has said that there were very preoccupying and questionable clauses within the final version of the new law governing education in Malta.

Addressing a press conference on the new law, which was tabled in Parliament on Monday, the MUT argued that it was never privy to the final draft, which was tabled in parliament.

The union said that one of the reforms in the law stipulates that all permanent warrants of all teachers will be revoked, including for those who already possess one. 

"We weren't consulted," Bonnici said. "We were never shown the final draft of the new reforms and we believe that this final version is a siege on professionalism and the education system."

Despite the new criteria for becoming a fully qualified teacher include a five-year course that includes a Master's in Teaching and Learning, and a further two years of supervised teaching (induction), a permanent warrant will not be issued anymore, MUT stated. "It will now be a temporary warrant that is renewed every year despite the hard work and training."

This also applies to Learning Support Educators and Learning Support Assistants - their license too will be condemned to this scrutiny. 

"What's very worrying," Bonnici said, "is that there is nothing in this new law that makes reference to what is required for a permanent warrant. This could be determined by a specific person who decides who is entitled to one. This is dangerous—we do not know whether this person is qualified, whether he has a special interest."

MUT's worries over the new legislation extend to a clause on home schooling. "The government," they said, "will decide in parliament in the coming days that anyone is able to organise home schooling. We have doubts over the principles involved." The new law does not stipulate whether the person organising home schooling has to have a permanent warrant. "When you isolate a student, there could be abuses on the minor which would go on unpunished, abuses which would otherwise be caught at school." Unless, there's a qualified person overseeing the homes-schooling, MUT said, the union will not approve of it. 

The new act will also give birth to a new commission which would be responsible for everything that has to do with schools and the education system. This commission, Bonnici said, will be governed by boards that are heavily controlled by the government. "This will not necessarily lead to a better quality education. Government should not have the total control of a single entity."

The government will also be entitled to ask for sensitive data on students as stipulated by a clause in the legislation. 

MUT said that it was surprised that these updates were not brought to their attention and that as long as the proposed legislation remains unchanged, it will be challenged. "We will not allow teachers who have worked hard for their warrant just to have their rights taken away. This will not attract future students to the profession."

"We are going to write to all MPs," Bonnici said. "We will unite with other entities if we have to because this legislation stands to be detrimental to our education, our educators, to our students, and ultimately to society as a whole."

Ministry’s reaction

Reacting to the union’s press conference, the Education ministry noted that a number of meetings with the MUT had taken place in the run up to the final draft of the Bill being concluded.

“The consultation was an integral part of the various important and advanced changes made to the education system in recent years, and this will continue,” the ministry said.

It added that the ministry had invited the union to discuss the points raised during the press conference on Tuesday, adding that it was willing to accept any proposals that could lead to an improved law.