Updated | Supply teacher did not have teacher's warrant

A 23-year-old supply teacher involved in the tragic death of 15-year-old pupil Lisa Marie Zahra, did not have a temporary warrant.

In a letter to his ministry’s permanent secretary and the president of the Council for the Teaching Profession – the body tasked with investigating complaints of misconduct by teachers – Education Minister Evarist Bartolo has vowed to take action to ensure that all teachers, including supply teachers, are in possession of a warrant, albeit a temporary one.

MaltaToday has since confirmed that Erin Tanti, who had only been recently drafted as a supply teacher at St Michael Foundation, did not have a teacher's warrant.

The letter comes in the wake of questions raised over a school's vetting of unqualified drama supply teacher Erin Tanti, who alongside his 15-year-old pupil Lisa Marie Zahra, were found at the foot Dingli Cliffs, a day after the two had been reported missing to the police on Tuesday 18 March.

Tanti, who had been recently drafted in as a supply teacher at St Michael’s Foundation, suffered critical injuries and is still undergoing intensive care at Mater Dei Hospital, while Zahra was found dead, believed to be from injuries incurred in her fall.

On Wednesday, St Michael Foundation - the school where Lisa Marie Zahra attended and where Erin Tanti had been employed for the past three months - insisted that it “strictly adhered to all procedures, rules and regulations stipulated by law” in the engagement of its teachers.

In his letter, Bartolo said that it had resulted that there were several shortcomings which have in the past years, allowed people to teach in schools without being in possession of a warrant.

The education minister also explained that the shortcomings in the Education Act and administrative procedures have also permitted people to teach without the necessary scrutiny and vetting being made.

He urged the two education officials to identify and to rectify the shortcomings by the end of May.