New proposed recruitment procedures for teachers are not some kind of witch-hunt, Winston Zahra of the Lisa Marie Foundation, which made the proposals, has insisted.

He said he believed the vast majority of educators have the welfare of children at heart but there is a small minority with ulterior motives. These proposals are designed to reduce the risks of this minority getting close to children.

The foundation’s set of 17 proposals, which form the basis of a White Paper issued by the Education Ministry follow the case of teenager Lisa Marie Zahra, who was found dead at Dingli Cliffs in March 2014. Her former teacher is facing charges of murder, assisted suicide, defilement of minors, possessing indecent images of a minor and abusing a position of trust.

The Malta Union of Teachers has described as “humiliating” a proposal requiring applicants for teaching positions to present certification to prove they are not registered sex offenders. 

Mr Zahra explained that the process for schools to obtain access to the Sex Offenders’ Register was currently extremely cumbersome and costly, such that some schools avoided it altogether.

Moreover, an applicant’s police conduct certificate did not always flag up all past offences.

“Our main proposal is to make access to the register easy and not put onerous costs on the institution. This confirmation could be part of the police conduct certificate but we have to make sure that the conduct certificate captures everything that is relevant,” he said.

Rejecting suggestions that the proposals put a presumption of guilt on applicants, Mr Zahra said the choice was between reacting to situations or taking proactive steps to prevent them and protect children’s well-being.  

Mr Zahra said the foundation is proposing the creation of a single national employment file for educators, which can be referenced by all schools, as well as eliminating compromise agreements when an educator’s position is terminated due to allegations of misconduct with children.