'Muscat doesn't know what's going on in Malta' - Dolores Cristina
Outgoing education minister Dolores Cristina insists that the government regularly consults with the MUT and other stakeholders.
31 January 2013, 12:00am
Jacob Borg
Jacob Borg
1 min read
Education Minister Dolores Cristina.
“Joseph Muscat’s lack of knowledge on what is going on in Malta is certainly food for thought,” Dolores Cristina declared in an impromptu press conference held this afternoon.
The outgoing minister for education was reacting to the opposition leader’s pledge to offer teachers paid sabbaticals.
“It is unacceptable that Muscat says that we do not consult with the relevant stakeholders such as the MUT. We agree that teachers' working conditions need to be continually improved. This is always the premise of any agreement that we strike with the union, Dolores Cristina said.
The minister read out an excerpt from the National Curriculum Framework, where MUT President Kevin Bonello commended the government for its ever improving consultations with the union.
“The National Curriculum Framework has been four years in the making. The only government to use schoolchildren as an experiment was a Labour one," the minister said.
Dolores Cristina expressed particular chagrin at Muscat’s statement that no further reforms would be introduced in the education sector.
“The education sector is always evolving. Saying that reforms will be halted is particularly worrying. I believe in sabbaticals, but more details are needed. Supplementary staff would be needed for such a scheme, therefore saying that it will not cost anything is hard to believe.”
“Many teachers have already benefitted massively from the scholarships offered by the government for postgraduate and doctoral level studies,” the minister said, referring to the STEPS and MGSS scholarship schemes."
Paul Sammut •
Anqa biss taf x`laqata. Anki shaba daru ghalijha u warbuha.
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Din l-istess Ministru li ma kienet taf xejn dwar it-tahwid li t-tifel taghha kien qieghed jghaffeg fil-programmi edukattivi ta' l-UE? Mela lil Robert Tabone telquh lejn Ghawdex u gie reinstated. Lil BRAVU Mauro Parascandalo tawh promotion u spicca fl-ufficcju tal-Kummissarju tal-NGOs. It-tifel ta' Cristina dabbar rasu lejn Heritage Malta. U l-Professur Christopher Bezzina kellu jgorr kollux hu wahdu! Dik gustizzja! U din il-BRAVA Ministru trid taghmilha tal-helwa. Tajjeb li mhux sejra terga' tohrog. Good riddance.
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Look who's talking! This half baked minister did not even know what was happening under her nose with the EU funds
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There's going to be a drastic change in the "school leaving certificate" at the end of form 5. Certain changes are good, some are not. But it is interesting to know whether all parents were informed about these changes as this change involves the parents as well. One of the basic needs to be eligible to get a level 1 or level 2 certificate is that the student has to attend one formal and one informal activity during the last 2 years at secondary level. This surely involves the parents to encourage their children and take them for these activities. To a certain extent, there has to be some changes to these certificates, but if I'm not mistaken, these will be starting very soon - surely neither students nor parents were informed about these drastic changes to qualify for Level 1 or Level 2 school leaving certificates. There are so much conditions that quite a big number of students will just qualify for a school leaving certificate which is not recognised.
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Lo and behold! Madame Erasmus teaching us all a lesson.
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Certu ministri, inqas ma jifthu halqhom izjed ahjar, ghax meta kienu fil-poter hlief frejjeg ma ghamlux. Dan jghodd ghalik ukoll Cristina.
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I think that for quality in teaching to be improved much can be done. Unfortunately the current government has been completely out of touch with teacher's real needs and improving the teaching profession. Just by getting new paper decorations and titles in the form of degrees is no solution to improving teaching skills. Teaching is a special vocation that depends on the personality and the formation of the teacher. This is not achieved by obtaining other degrees. You cannot compare a teacher who has 20 years teaching experience and has improved his or her skills from hands on work with somebody who has spent his life studying and collecting degrees and titles but has not spent a single hour in the class room.
The teaching profession needs to be completely overhauled! Teachers need to be judged by their performance and meritocracy rather than their degrees. Also one should note that teachers are forced to attend many in job training courses during the year. Do these not also qualify as informal qualifications?
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How about the millions of EU money you lost to the detriment of our children.?
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Isthi dolor, mela mux int kont li amilt faliment totali fl-edukazjoni meta hat naghsa u tlift il fondi ta l-EU u wahaltu lil ta tahtek. Il vera skaduta tejx fl-eklissi, ma tisthix min alla li halqek. U xi najdu al tal familja li lahqu min ajr kwalifiki. Int taf xqed jigri f'malta imma ax blajtom il 500euro fil gimgha, u lilna tajtna 1.16euro. Trid tkun vera rmixk biex tajd li Joseph ma jafx xqed jigri f'malta
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According to Dolores Cristina Dr. Muscat does not know what is going on in Malta. Strange coming from a Minister who did not know what is going on in her Office.
Abdullah alhrbi •
Why doesn't Dolores Christina come clean about her new curriculum reform? Why doesn't she admit that that the only timeline she has is one of 13 years for implementation? Why doesn't she admit that syllabii in primary schools are still the same regardless of the new benchmark exam .i.e. teachers still prepare students using the old syllabus in place for the junior lyceum exam? Why doesn't she acknowledge the chaos in place at the moment in secondary schools trying to cope with the settings system? Of course her curriculum director cant even start to think of primary schools because her hands are full with the mess in secondary schools. Teachers in primary schools have been given no timelines for new syllabi to be in place. What this in effect means is that children at present in primary schools still have to deal with a lot of superfluous content and of course a Religion exam above all!
Dolores Christina's reforms have merely resulted in reform fatigue weighing teachers down in tons of paperwork. Her panic is understandable!
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HAHAHA DOLAR DOLORES!! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF TALKING LIKE THIS DOLORES, WHY DONT YOU GIVE US A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE MISTAKES YOU DID BEFORE YOU START PREACHING. YOU CAN START COUNTING YOUR DAYS, YOUR TIME IS OVER AND THATS FOR GOOD.
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Minister Cristina should admit that she inherited an on-going Ministry from ex-Minister Louis Galea, and that she managed to create such a confusion in the Education Division that any incoming Education Minister will have the hell of a job in sorting out the mess.
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IT IS DOLORES CRISTINA THAT DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON, EVEN IN HER OWN MINISTRY. CLYDE PULI STATED THAT THE TABLET WOULD BE INTRODUCED WITHIN 2 YEARS AND SHE SAID THAT SHE THINKS IT WILL BE INTRODUCED WITHIN 4 YEARS. WHY DOESN'T THE EDUCATION MINISTER RETIRE QUIETLY AND, HOPEFULLY FOR HER, NO WHISTLEBLOWER WILL IMPLICATE HER OR HER MINISTRY AFTER THE 9TH MARCH. EVERY STAKEHOLDER AGREES THAT THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK WAS A BISMAL FAILURE AND MALTA UNDER GONZIPN BOASTS OF THE LOWEST LITERACY FIGURES AMONGST YOUTHS IN ALL OF THE EU - THANKS TO DOLORES CRISTINA AND HER CRONIES AT THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.
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I can't believe Dolores's cheek! This woman lives in an ivory tower and she criticize Muscat who has the best advisors in education! Consultation? What consultation? First they make a mess, then they call it a success and after that they come to consult with us teachers. Primary school teachers know what happened with the benchmark exam, If the first batch of kids to do the exam weren't guinea pigs I'll eat my hat! I also can't see how this woman can mention scholarships after the whole Erasmus fiasco. And what do scholarships have to do with sabbaticals any way? Scholarships have always been around but not available for everybody.
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Hi taf x'qed jigri fl-edukazzjoni: tant kemm taf u li in-knowledge taghha hu second to none li mhix fil-lista tal-kandidati 'screened' ta GonziPN!
