Teachers' meeting 'inconclusive' but progress registered

A meeting held yesterday to discuss teachers' proposals for amendments to the July 2007 education reform remained inconclusive but progress was registered.

Malta Union of Teachers president John Bencini said the cordial meeting with the government had not led to any form of conclusion and talks were due to continue, despite developments.

Asked to specify, Mr Benicini preferred not to go into detail but simply said that the parties on the opposite side of the table "listened to us and seemed to better understand our difficulties".

The two-hour meeting was attended by the Education Ministry, the Management and Personnel Office and the Central Bargaining Unit, which takes over during talks on collective agreements involving the public sector.

The meeting was held after a one-day strike called at state schools last Thursday. A work-to-rule directive that had been previously announced for yesterday was put on hold after the union and the ministry agreed to hold talks.

The strike emptied state schools of students and was backed by about 96 per cent of teachers.

Mr Bencini said the teachers kept the system going because they did a lot of work that went beyond their call of duty. He said the union wanted to discuss amendments to the education reform so that teachers would be paid what they were due.

The union's proposals include new requests such as increases in allowances, new wages for new posts and reducing the number of students in each class.

The government had insisted that talks on the amendments should continue once discussions on supply teachers, kindergarten assistants and learning support assistants were concluded. The talks revolved around improving work conditions and job security of the supply category, among other things.

Mr Bencini said the parties had agreed to meet again on Monday.