This is how the new teachers' agreement will change allowances
MaltaToday has seen the agreement between the government and the Malta Union of Teachers and here’s how the new, improved allowance structure will be • Still unclear how the percentage increase was worked out
Educators will benefit from a new allowance to cover expenses incurred on resources
Educators will benefit from a new allowance for work resources as part of the agreement concluded on 21 December between their union and the government.
The 63-page agreement, seen by MaltaToday, covers the various teaching grades, including school management teams.
The agreement came into force on 1 January and is valid until December 2022. The agreement makes it clear that no arrears are due but the work resources allowance will be paid on a pro-rata basis for the current scholastic year.
The managerial grades – head masters and assistant heads – will also receive the work resources allowance at progressively higher rates than teachers and learning support assistants.
The class allowance educators currently receive to top up their pay will increase substantially but from the tables attached with the agreement, it remains unclear on what basis the 24% increase over the five-year span was worked out. The amounts for 2018 alone do not equate to an increase equivalent to 14% of the basic pay as had been suggested in education circles.
The agreement also changes the nomenclature for LSAs and Kindergarten Assistants, to learning support educator and kindergarten educator. The agreement includes an allowance structure for educators working in resource centres and learning support centres.
All supply grades will receive a distinct allowance as dictated in the table below.
Other allowances include those for heads and assistant heads based on the size of the school population and an additional allowance for educators who serve in more tahn one school - this does not apply to peripatetic duties.
The agreement also allows for teacher progression from one grade to the next to be shortened to six years from eight if the individual accumulates an aggregate of 360 hours of “recognised self-sought continuous professional development (CPD) time” over six years.
Educators will also get 31.25 hours of leave, which includes statutory emergency leave, as opposed to the current 27 hours.
No half-yearly exams
Teachers would be required to carry out continuous assessments and students are entitled to receive three feedback reports throughout a scholastic year - one per term.
In State primary and secondary schools, half-yearly exams will be replaced with “varied modalities of teacher-led ongoing assessment” but annual exams will be retained in June.
The national assessment at the end of Year 6 – known as the benchmark exam – will see students being assessed also on science, apart from the core subjects, Maths, Maltese and English.
The agreement also gives a broad outline of the duties of each teacher grade.
