Teachers’ union agrees with ‘banding’

The council of the Malta Union of Teachers has welcomed the decision of the Ministry for Education and Employment to introduce banding in state schools.

“The union has been highlighting the difficulties of mixed ability grouping since its introduction. We requested clarifications from the ministry about the way banding will be implemented and we are satisfied about the procedure which will be adopted,” the MUT said in a statement.

The MUT said that some schools were already adopting “ability grouping” on similar parameters of banding.

The objective of banding is to strengthen lower achievers’ capabilities as they are about to join the stream of mixed ability classrooms, introduced in the latest reform of colleges.

“We are insisting on an ongoing evaluation of the system to ensure that all decisions are backed by evidence provided directly by schools and educators, who are ultimately facing the difficulties of mixed ability and differentiated teaching.”