Teachers' union severs ties with Education Ministry

The Malta Union of Teachers is severing all ties with the Education Ministry because it feels its members' democratic right to take part in industrial action is being undermined.

"As from today, we are stopping all contact with the ministry and halting discussions that were about to start on reform until we are convinced that the threats on a person's liberty to take part in industrial action have stopped," union president John Bencini told a press conference yesterday.

Education Minister Louis Galea reacted, saying the MUT's decision was unjustified and the only way forward was through dialogue and negotiations.

Mr Bencini was evidently angry at the ministry's "unwarranted" reaction to the directive issued to all schools, except special schools, to open their doors one hour late today in solidarity with the geography teacher who was attacked by a student in February.

The union was particularly incensed by the fact that the ministry was putting the onus on heads and assistant heads to report for work on time today to ensure students were safely ushered into school at the usual time. "The directive applies to everyone and heads and assistant heads have a legitimate right to follow it. The ministry should not be threatening them. Are we going back to the 1980s?" Mr Bencini asked.

He said the union was yesterday inundated with calls from heads and assistant heads who were in a dilemma about what to do.

"A lot of chaos was created unnecessarily. This is not a protest strike aimed at any ministry or authority, but a show of solidarity with a colleague who was attacked," he said.

"God forbid anything happens to any student tomorrow because of the chaos the government has created. The minister in question is also responsible for industrial relations and we don't expect this reaction.

"We are not seeking confrontation, but if this is what the ministry wants then bring it on."

While on the one hand the ministry was insisting that today was a normal school day, the union is advising parents to take their children to school one hour late.

"The government is risking the possibility that hundreds of students could be dropped in front of school gates. This is an extremely serious situation."

Mr Bencini welcomed the support it was getting in its quest from all areas and the fact that, for the first time in history, all the other unions, including the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions, were backing its action.

Both the General Workers' Union and the Union Haddiema Maghqudin went a step further and issued their own directives in a show of support with the MUT.

The GWU ordered general hands and caretakers to report for work at the same time, but to stop short from allowing students to enter the school. Only educators and heads or assistant heads were to be allowed in.

Meanwhile, the UHM ordered non-academic staff to report to work as normal, but to keep their offices or workshops closed and at no time should they be held responsible for the students.

The Ministry of Education said it could not understand why the unions were accusing it of intimidation, when it had already explained it did not have the means to ensure that the school transport took students to school one hour late.

"It is in this contest that the minister is appealing to the sense of duty of heads and assistant heads to open the schools and allow students to go in, rather than leaving them on the streets. The minister is allowing everybody to act in liberty," the ministry said.

However, Mr Bencini waved this off as an excuse, arguing that when bus owners staged a general strike a few weeks back, the ministry had been quick to advise parents to provide transport themselves.

He continued to say that an attempt to draft the way forward was made last week when the future of the unruly 14-year-old boy in question, who attends St Joseph Lyceum, Paola, was discussed. The boy is expected to return to his school today.

At that meeting, the union recommended that the boy be put under the guidance of a multi-disciplinary team for as long as necessary. Once the team felt that the boy was ready, he would be placed in another school for the duration of this scholastic year and then return to St Joseph Lyceum come October.

"We truly believe this boy has a right to education, but so do his fellow students. This boy needs help and since he is considered to be a ring leader in his class, and has been since Form 1, we are advising that he spends some time away from the usual environment and then be phased in slowly," Mr Bencini said.

Both sides agreed that the boy should spend some time with a multi-disciplinary team, but they failed to agree on how long he should spend under such guidance. The ministry has also refused to accept the union's proposal that the student be plucked from his environment for even a short period.

"Why are they being so hard-headed? Why the insistence and obsession that this student is not removed from his class or the school?" Mr Bencini asked.

The union had also been prepared to drop its two directives - for all teachers at St Joseph Lyceum to refuse to have any form of contact with this 14-year-old boy. This was to be extended to any schools where similar incidents of unacceptable behaviour by students are reported to the Education Division and where the union feels that not enough punitive measures have been dished out.

"If the minister had listened none of this would have happened. The minister should not have joined the fray. No minister should not go into the nitty-gritty of things," Mr Bencini said.

In a letter he wrote to Mr Bencini, Dr Galea said he felt this was an unfair charge because the authorities were being extremely cooperative and had always acted in the most correct and professional manner.