AG looking into Gozo teachers' case

The Attorney General has to establish whether there are enough reasons to institute criminal proceedings in the case of three Gozitan teachers who were disciplined for going abroad when they were supposedly on sick leave, The Times has learnt.

After a disciplinary board had found the teachers guilty of skiving work, suspending them for three days without pay, the question over whether medical certificates were used incorrectly remained unanswered.

"The file was last week passed on to the Attorney General by the disciplinary board for him to determine whether further action could be taken," government sources said.

The medical certificates' issue had become a ping pong with the Education Ministry shifting responsibility to the Gozo Ministry, which, in turn, told The Times it was illegal to divulge information related to the disciplinary board's decisions.

The three women, who teach at Ninu Cremona boys' secondary school in Victoria, had reported sick last October 30 and took an early morning flight to London. They were on a shopping trip that lasted until November 3, spanning the weekend and two mid-term holidays.

A doctor, sent by the Gozo College principal, ultimately responsible for all Gozo schools, did not find the teachers at home on the day they reported sick.

The Education Ministry had confirmed the teachers produced medical certificates to justify their absence. But after receiving reports that they had actually been on a flight to London, disciplinary proceedings were instituted by the Gozo Ministry.

Earlier this week, answering questions by Labour education spokesman Evarist Bartolo, Education Minister Dolores Cristina told Parliament the medical certificates had not been issued by the wife of the school head, who is a doctor. She confirmed one of the teachers was the cousin of the head of school.