The draft National Curriculum Framework fails to address important issues such as the lack of discipline in classrooms, according to the Malta Union of Teachers.

Union officials said this afternoon that although the draft framework was a positive initiative, there was insufficient effective consultation across all teaching grades.

Union president Kevin Bonello said the draft was based on several assumptions that included that all students were motivated to learn and all teachers were experts in all subjects. It failed to cater for those students who did not want to learn at all costs.

The draft did not even explore the option of having co-ed schools, where boys and girls were mixed, even through this had proved to be successful.

It did not tackle the problem of lack of discipline in class by providing some form of legal framework within which teachers and heads could take disciplinary action without fearing repercussion.

Mr Bonello added that the draft did not define the parameters of inclusion.

Although the union was in favour of inclusion, the reality was that there were cases where this did not work and held back the whole class, he said.

The draft, he added, was aimed at accommodating under achievers but ignored the needs of high achievers.

The draft also seemed to ignore working hours agreed to in the sectoral agreement signed between the union and the government, as it proposed longer working hours.

He said teachers also disagreed with the way that sciences – physics, biology and chemistry – were being renamed as core subjects. This could discourage students from specialising in one particular subject.

He added that although most teachers were in favour of change they felt it was happening too fast and they were not properly trained for it.