MUT lifts directive on school outings

The Malta Union of Teachers yesterday said that school visits of an educational or cultural nature may now resume, rescinding a circular sent to school heads which had advised them to put a stop to school outings.

The circular had been issued after a Junior College lecturer was fined Lm500 by the Enforcement Directorate Board of the Malta Tourism Authority for providing information about a goddess of fertility statue to a group of some 20 foreign students at City Gate, Valletta, about two months ago.

Union general secretary Joseph DeGiovanni yesterday said that since the situation was still not clear with regard to foreign students, heads and teachers were advised to proceed with caution.

The MUT will be making representations to the authorities because it strongly believes that foreign students in Malta on exchange visits should fall in the same category as local students.

Last week, the MUT wrote to the MTA chairman welcoming the publication of a statement by the authority which clarified the position regarding school visits to historical sites and museums.

The MTA had said that "it is not, and has never been the policy, nor the practice of the MTA and of predecessors charged with the proper organisation and running of the industry, to apprehend, charge, or prosecute members of the teaching profession engaged in class visits to historical sites and museums for their pupils at primary, secondary and tertiary level".

The authority's statement was further supported by Education Minister Louis Galea's statement that teachers have never required a licence to take their students on outings to historical sites and monuments and did not fall within the remit of the Act.

Meanwhile, the Grupp Arkeologiku Malti, which expressed solidarity with the fined teacher, said in a statement that the relevant parts of the Malta Travel and Tourism Act should be revised.

"The law should protect those involved in the tourist industry, but should also not leave a negative impact on educational, cultural and social activities," it said.

It maintained that there should be a distinction between tours organised for tourists and Maltese.

"Arrangements should also be made to allow tourists to receive the best possible service in tours of a specialised nature, without compromising a living for the tourist guide."