Teachers’ union want meeting over Alternative Learning Programme

According to the Malta Union of Teachers, students are “devising ways and means how to get themselves into the Alternative Learning Programme, by trying to get themselves expelled or choosing not to apply for their O level examinations”.

The Alternative Learning Programme (ALP) classes target students who fall heavily behind at school, to the point that they would not even apply for at least one SEC examination. Students are offered vocational and academic studies and school rules differ from the other schools. For example, ALP students do not have a uniform.

Recently, in a parliamentary question tabled by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, it was also revealed that these students were allowed to smoke. According to Bartolo, an open space had been provided in order for the students not to give their renewed interest in studies. At the same time, the school had notified the parents of their children’s smoking habits while courses against smoking were being provided.

In September, the first batch of around 260 early school-leavers who took part in the Youth.Inc branch of the Alternative Learning Programme were awarded a certificate after successfully completing the course. 

But in a letter issued today, MUT President Kevin Bonello requested an urgent meeting to discuss the programme.

“The Union is very highly concerned on what is going on in this programme, especially where the Paola centre is concerned. The Union believes that the ALP programme, despite all the good intentions and the near to miraculous interventions of the professionals in the school, is analogous to a time bomb ready to explode and immediate interventions are needed to save it from the disaster it is heading to,” Bonello said.

The ministry, it said, decided to include students with a highly vulnerable status in this programme, students that were in schools like Mater Dei.

These students were identified as needing highly individualised learning programmes due to their volatile behaviour and psychosocial needs.

“The staff at ALP were not provided with any background on these students and very limited support. These students’ integration in this programme is highly questionable and is proving to be detrimental to themselves and to the other students,” Bonello said.

He argued, the ALP programme had been burdened with the responsibility of students requiring special educational needs, some of them requiring one-to-one support. However, the Paola centre is operating with only five LSAs.

“The school and the staff at the ALP programme have little knowledge of the needs of the students because nobody deigned to inform them, and they are slowly discovering the situation on a day by day basis from students themselves.

Parents were apparently also asked to sign a consent form to disengage their son/daughter from the use of an LSA and they were arguably highly misguided that this would help them to prepare the student for the workplace but nobody took stock of the situation that if a child was deemed as needing one to one support, there was a very important reason for that decision. No statementing board reviewed the cases either.”

Bonello said that most students in the ALP programme required individual attention and guidance. The programme however lacks a dedicated guidance teacher.

The MUT said the methodology of engagement of “vocational trainers” was very highly contentious, raising concerns that there could be a repetition in that unqualified personnel were engaged in educating children at all levels.

“Moreover, these persons were not even given a basic pedagogical training on how to deal with such students most of whom display challenging behaviour. Even the qualified and experienced teachers need training for this type of schooling, which training is nowhere in sight,” Bonello said.

According to the MUT, teachers have even been admonished for trying to exert some sort of order or discipline in their classes.

“Arguably the whole ALP programme is in breach of law because it is treating underage students that fall under the compulsory age bracket as mature students, which they are not.

“Students are apparently being allowed to leave classes whenever they feel like it. In our short visit to the programme we witnessed a teacher despairing because none of the students came to class, a student who climbed onto a wall and literally jumped into a neighbour’s yard. It is understandable that this programme has to attract students with a high risk of absenteeism and lack of interest, but at the same time this is a programme for underage students and the law does not exonerate their educators from their duties or responsibilities.”