Faculty of Education urges ‘re-think’ of proposed laws as ministry insists warrants will not be revoked

The Faculty of Education at the University of Malta has called on the government to re-think the proposed Education Act, which it said lacked clear parameters in relation to the warranting of the profession.

Last Tuesday the Malta Union of Teachers held a press conference in which it voiced concerns over the new laws leading to the revocation of teachers’ warrants, among others. On Wednesday the union called a nationwide strike at all education institutes including the University of Malta.

The Education ministry has denied that new laws would revoke teachers’ warrant. It maintained that it was open to discussing matters with the union, while expressing its disappointment that the union was still opting for industrial action.

READ MORE: Educators in all schools to strike on Monday

In its statement, the Faculty of Education said that while the process of reviewing the present Education Act was long overdue, it was disappointed at the fact that suggestions it had put forward during the process of consultation in the run up to the drafting of the new laws had only been “taken into consideration marginally”.

“The Faculty is especially concerned with the lack of clear parameters in relation to the warranting of the teaching profession,” the faculty said. “This could potentially have negative implications, which could undermine teacher education and, even more seriously, the whole profession.”

Furthermore, it noted that while the law should give prominence to the development and upgrading of teacher education, the Bills tabled in parliament made no reference to the minimum qualifications necessary to qualify as a teacher or the mechanisms being proposed to regulate this.

The faculty said the law could lead to excessive centralization of decision taking, and to a situation where the voices of educators and learners are not given the space they deserve. It stressed that the institutions governed by the law required better representation in their composition, and a transparent process in relation to the manner through which members will be selected.

“As the foremost teacher-education institution in the country, the Faculty of Education asks for its views to be duly respected, and renews its willingness to collaborate with all parties,” the faculty said.

Ministry requests reconciliatory meeting with union

Meanwhile, the Education ministry said in a statement that it had requested a reconciliatory meeting with the MUT in order to “clarify the parts of the law that has raised concerns because of an incorrect interpretation”.

The ministry said it was Article 23 of the proposed Teaching and Allied Professions Act that was the cause of the confusion, and that some were mistakenly interpreting text referring to the old law being repealed, as meaning that teachers’ warrants would be revoked.

“This distinction is crucial,” the ministry insisted. “At no point did the ministry refer to the revocation of a warrant.”

It said that it was willing to amend and clarify this part of the law if it could be interpreted to mean a revocation of a warrant, even though the wording was correct.

READ MORE: MUT says new law will revoke teachers' permanent warrants

“The ministry is willing to improve every part of the law, in agreement with the MUT,” it said, adding that it was willing to sit and discuss the law in good faith in order to clear up any misinterpretations.

It said that while strikes were understandable when there was disagreement, it was not right for students, parents and teachers to face a strike, with all its consequences, when there was no disagreement.