The Malta Union of Teachers is calling for the resignation of whoever is responsible for the management of EU funds for educational programmes, union president John Bencini said today.

Addressing a news conference, Mr Bencini referred to the EU decision to freeze funds allocated to Malta for educational programmes.

Shortcomings in the management of funds by the local European Union Programme Agency (EUPA) , which is responsible for the programmes, were first highlighted by the European Commission nine months ago. Changes were made but the Commission was not satisfied and therefore suspended the funds.

Mr Bencini said that someone needed to shoulder responsibility.

“An apology is not enough... it is an insult to the intelligence of the hundreds of students and about 50 teachers who were going to participate... This is the result of mismanagement and inefficiency which is affecting young people, some of whom have seen their dreams being shattered,” he said.

Mr Bencini pointed out that there was no culture of resignation or embarrassment in Malta. The MUT, he said, expected those responsible to have stepped aside.

Mr Bencini also referred to a dispute between the government and the union on kindergarten assistants.

A memorandum of understanding, he said, was signed with the government last year through which experienced kindergarten assistants would not have to get a diploma but would be able to sit for courses to be promoted from one level to the next.

It was agreed that those who had 30 years experience would follow a 70-hour course, those with 20 years experience a 140-hour course and those with 15 years experience, a 210-hour course.

However, when the 70-hour course was concluded, the authorities discovered that some of those who said they had 30 years experience did not actually have such a length of service and they were asked to take a longer course.

The same happened with some of those who had said they had 20 years experience. The reason behind the mix-up was that maternal or paternity leave or another job at the school for number of years was not considered part of the years in the job.

The problem, Mr Bencini said, was with record keeping. For while some were told they would not be given their certificates, others in the same situation were not. This had created misunderstandings between workers. It was a reflection of inefficiency, incompetence and mismanagement and the union wanted an independent inquiry.

He pointed out that the MUT had provided two solutions but the government had not accepted them. He would not, however, say what these solutions were.

On sectoral allowances for all teaching grades, Mr Bencini said that negotiations were at a crucial point and a decision from the government was expected at any time.

“This is a crucial week,” he said.