I refer to the article entitled ‘Teachers’ work-life balance “non-existent”’ (September 11).

The Ministry for Education and Employment points out that, through the new sectoral agreement, one of its main aims was to give a career progression path to all educators, rewarding those who choose to further their studies. Learning support educator grades who, until December 2018, could only be given the grade of LSE II and eventually progress to salary scale 10, were given the opportunity to progress to LSE III upon completion of a full MQF Level 6 qualification in inclusive education. For the first time, this enables such LSEs to progress to salary scale 9 and also to have the opportunity to apply for the post of head of department (inclusion).

Those who do not have the qualification to progress to LSE III are being given the opportunity to obtain such qualification through courses being offered by tertiary education institutions. Such courses include the full MQF Level 6 course and also top-ups for those who already possess the diploma (MQF Level 5). Furthermore, deployment to Gozo as has been the practice, is by seniority, which is calculated on the result of a call from year to year and the length of time that an individual served in a particular position.