The Malta Union of Teachers has directed teachers in state and church schools not to attend after-school courses organised by the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education until an agreement to cover such courses is reached.

MUT president John Bencini explained that while the existing collective agreement did provide for teacher-training courses to be held after school hours, this was understood to apply only in exceptional circumstances, such as when a foreign lecturer was invited to Malta. In normal circumstances, and in terms of the usual practice, such courses were held at the end of the school year or just before the new one started.

However, courses held after school hours were now no longer an exception, and this had caused problems to many teachers.

The MUT, he said, was not against further training of teachers, but the teachers had other commitments too and these had to be respected.