Education minister appeals for due respect towards educators

Education minister Evarist Bartolo made an appeal for people to show more respect towards teachers following a week of sparring between the ministry and the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT). 

On Saturday, the union announced that it was calling off industrial action scheduled to take place on Monday after last minute meetings with the government. The strike was ordered by the union after a week of controversy surrounding proposed amendments to laws regulating the education profession, which the union said would mean that teachers' warrants would no longer be permanent and would be subject to ongoing renewal.  

This was repeatedly denied by the government, which noted that the law would not be revoking any warrants, while pointing out that teachers were already obliged to carry out continuous personal development. The government said it would be withdrawing all three bills and would discuss any issues with the union. 

Speaking during a political activity in Zejtun, Bartolo said he was disappointed by the negative public opinion of teachers he had seen over the course of the week, adding that the it was a reflection of what teachers experience on a regular basis.  

"I call for the respect of all educators in this country," he said. "There was a lot of venom on social media targeting teachers. To be an educator today is a challenge indeed."

He argued that despite the insults flung in educators' direction, including comments about teachers' holidays and the supposed easy nature of their work, educators were doing a fine job and the MUT's reaction, though surprising, was not unforeseeable. "The clauses in the Bill proposed might have been the strike of the match but the gunpowder had already been laid down by the nature of their work and what they have to face as educators."

Bartolo said that it was not the government's intention to strike this match. It does not make sense, he said, for a government to give to teachers what previous governments continued to deny them to have any sort of malicious quarrel with said teachers. "This was a breakdown of communication which we are very willing to rectify."

Bartolo stressed that he hoped he would not keep seeing a manifest ill feeling towards teachers going forward while expressing his relief at having gone past the "misunderstanding".