Teachers 'want to be consulted' on reforms

Many teachers taking part in meetings on the proposed educational reforms relating to the removal of streaming, the Junior Lyceum examination and the progression from primary to secondary education, felt the meetings were not genuine consultation, opposition education spokesman Evarist Bartolo said today.

He said the teachers felt they were being faced with a fait accompli and that the meetings were advertising and promoting the reforms as decided by cabinet.

They were becoming more confused when senior officials in education privately expressed their concern and lack of agreement with the reforms but then spoke favourably about them in public.

The Labour Party appealed for the meetings to be genuine consultation with the full participation of educators. No educational reform for the benefit of children would be seriously successful if educators did not agree with it and if it was based solely on orders “from above”.