The employers’ association is urging the Government not to give in to pressure by the teachers’ union to employ more learning support assistants.
The Malta Employers’ Association said the number of LSAs in schools has “mushroomed beyond control” and the criteria to recruit more should be based on whether there was such a need and whether they were affordable.
Last week, the Malta Union of Teachers registered a trade dispute with the Government, accusing it of failing to issue applications for permanent LSAs who are specifically hired to help children with disabilities in the classroom for a more inclusive education.
The union said it had been calling on the Education Ministry to take action on the matter for more than 18 months. MUT president Kevin Bonello had said there were about 300 LSAs engaged as supplies, with temporary employment rights.
The MEA said that if the supply of qualified LSAs exceeded the demand, they should stop being trained. It proposed the setting up of an employability index for courses, noting that obtaining a qualification was not an automatic right to a related job.
“Public sector employment is again on the increase and it would be next to impossible to reach fiscal targets unless government payroll is kept in check.
It will be next to impossible to reach fiscal targets unless government payrollis kept in check
“Although it might be inevitable to boost manpower in areas where human resources are short of requirements, the Government should re-allocate its labour force to increase efficiencies, rather than resorting to additional recruitment.”
The MEA also disagreed with the MUT’s “intransigent stand” on school hours.
The finance minister’s statement to consider different options to extend school hours was reasonable because there was a growing need for longer school hours to respond to changing requirements of families and also the educational needs of children, the association said.
In reaction, the MUT said those eligible to apply for the post of LSA were already in employment with the Government but on a supply basis rather than a regular one.
“The Government will not be employing more LSAs, as the MEA put it, but it would be giving the rightful working conditions to its employees who studied to specialise in aiding children with special needs,” it said.
The union added that professionals in the education stream were not “babysitters” to be employed while the parents stayed away from home and there was already an agreement with the Government on how to cater for the needs of working parents, including Klabb 3-16.
The MUT said it could not “fathom how the MEA could possibly waddle into such issues over which it shows clearly that it has absolutely no understanding”.