Teachers’ union reports positive outcome from Archbishop’s meeting

Teachers’ union MUT has hailed a positive meeting it held with Archbishop Charles Scicluna, after it flagged a series of abusive recruitment policies by schools within the Church’s education secretariat.

The union said it was satisfied with the positive outlook of the meeting and the willingness of the Archbishop to discuss and seek a solution. “The discussion focused on recruitment issues and included the presentation of a document with suggestions proposed by the Union.”

During the meeting the MUT reiterated its collaborative stance to the Archbishop in order to make sure that any instances of abuse and malpractice are investigated and to improve on the current situation so as to ensure that such instances do not repeat themselves.

“Going forward, the MUT will be meeting again with the Archbishop to discuss implemented changes. Meanwhile, members are still advised – as usual practice – to contact the Union for any assistance needed.”

Last week the MUT called for serious discussion with the view of improving the recruitment process through “honesty, transparency and good practice” after what it called a spate of abusive practices, particularly in the recruitment of teachers.

The union said it was informed “shambolic practices that are not only a shame on those schools and their leaders but also a far cry from the ‘Catholic practice’ being suddenly expected from Church school teachers.”

On its part, the Church Schools Association said that the MUT’s “bullying” towards the Secretariat for Catholic Education and the Church Schools leaders was “neither respectful nor conducive to any progress in education in Malta.”

Examples of abuse reported included teachers being blatantly singled out during interviews because of their gender, others told they only wanted to employ male teachers and others who had their job terminated for no apparent reason “except perhaps because the post was being reserved for someone else”.