Updated | Educators' Day: Union thanks

The Union of Professional Educators (UPE) has marked Educators’ Day by thanking those who work in “this forgotten sector, forgotten by the authorities.”

UPE Executive Head Graham Sansone said that it was “very strange” to hear the Minister for Finance Edward Scicluna saying there was no shortage of teachers, when educators across the board were being forced to take on extra responsibilities to cope with the lack of staff. He accused the minister of being detached from reality and pointed out that Education Minister Evarist Bartolo had already acknowledged that there were less teachers than necessary.

Along with the union’s Director for State Schools, Rita Catania, and Financial Executive George Debono, Sansone thanked all educators for their “sterling work, done during the year even though much of the work done with students, lacks in appreciation by both the general public and the authorities.”

Sansone criticised the school transport supervision system, which left teachers and Learning Support Educators facing an increasing burden of responsibility -particularly where disabled students who required individual attention were concerned – all without commensurate compensation. “We went to the ministry but all we found were closed doors. They are not acknowledging the problems.”

He thanked educators who spend time away from their families, correcting and preparing resources for their students, despite not being paid enough. Some educators were paying out of pocket for teaching resources such as cardboard , stationery and decorations, he said.

Student teachers on teaching practise were spending up to €300 from their stipend on these resources, Sansone said, calling for a pro-rata salary system to be introduced for these students.

Catania said that only some teachers were being given an allowance for these expenses, with supply teachers being completely excluded from it. Debono also pointed out that in some instances Learning Support Educators were being paid more than supply teachers.

Particularly bad was the ministry’s treatment of trainers, who are precariously engaged as self-employed persons on €11.75 per hour, without vacation or sick leave, Sansone said. “It’s shameful.”

The union argued that a committee should be appointed to address the teacher shortage and the diminishing respect for the teaching profession.

“UPE is fully aware that nowadays the profession has lost the respect it is due as a result of various factors, and for this reason, the Union encourages the Public to be more appreciative of the fact that their own success in life is also due to the presence and intervention of Educators throughout their early years.”

It was time for educators to respect themselves and remember that the UPE was backing them, Sansone said.

MUT highlights security issues in schools

In a statement issued this afternoon, MUT President Marco Bonnici said: “security in schools is also a major issue as educational authorities have not yet for example allocated the required number of educators to carry out supervision before and after school hours. This seemingly cost-cutting exercise is leaving the most vulnerable students unsupervised. Apart from this, our appeal is once again being made for measures to increase proper security in schools before similar accidents to the ones we had in the past years.”

The union said it was also marking UNESCO World Teachers’ Day, which is celebrating teachers with the theme, “Young Teachers: The future of the Profession.” The day provides the occasion to celebrate the teaching profession worldwide, to take stock of achievements, and to address some of the issues central for attracting and keeping the brightest minds and young talents in the profession, said an MUT spokesperson.

"Locally, educators and students are suffering from wrong decisions and mistakes which are being taken by the education authorities. All newly recruited educators in state schools have not been provided with proper resources such as laptops. This has been caused by delays in the issuing of the procurement process leaving educators without the essential tools to provide the best educational experience to students. Apart from this, the MUT has been calling for some time to for example increase the stipends for student teachers to help them during their teaching practice. Measures like this will help future teachers during their training.