The Malta Union of Teachers is objecting to a decision by the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology to set up an ombudsman’s office and appoint a senior staff member as ombudsman.

This decision, the union said, raised several questions, particularly whether the structure that had been set up was in conformity with legislation regulating the college and the national office of the ombudsman.

The latter included an ombudsman for education who already had the mandate to investigate situations at post-secondary and tertiary level, including the university and Mcast.

The union said that earlier this week it contacted Mcast’s administration and objected to the appointment insisting that the office set up had the role of investigator, prosecutor and executor. This was definitely not in line with any role of ombudsman or grievances office.

It asked how could ‘the ombudsman’ have the independence and autonomy to investigate and the serenity to decide on cases when he was part of the college administration and an employee of the college.

All this showed that no employee could have confidence in the structure, where anything that was said could be used by the office against the individual. This conflict could lead to disciplinary action against individuals taking their cases to the office and the loss of jobs if what was said was used against the employee.

The MUT said Mcast justified its decision insisting that its governing board could do whatever it wanted. This, the union said, did not augur well to the Mcast administration.

The MUT said it would continue to stress its arguments against the decision and warned members not to cooperate with the office.