The Institute of Tourism Studies and the Malta Union of Teachers on Thursday signed a collective agreement covering academics.

The teachers’ union said that the collective agreement had been approved by an absolute majority of academics and had a five-year term.

It added that ITS academics would, for the first time, benefit from conditions on a par with their counterparts in other higher education institutions in Malta.

The academics would also benefit from work conditions in line with other institutions, and the new agreement would pave the way for ITS to develop an international tourism and hospitality education hub, the MUT added.

New, flexible work practices were also agreed upon, reflecting the operational practices of the industry, according to the union.

The collective agreement would also contribute to bring about modular teaching, which would allow individuals working in the industry to further their studies and achieve higher qualifications at their own pace, it said.

“The MUT has taken on board the plight of academics who have been requesting alignment of their conditions with those of their counterparts for years,” union president Marco Bonnici said.

He said the agreement raised vocational education to a new level at ITS, an institution that was synonymous with high-quality education in the tourism and hospitality field and which was evolving to meet the needs of the sector and its students.

Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said that the agreement was an important step towards transforming the ITS into a world-class national higher education institution.

ITS chairman Carlo Micallef and CEO Pierre Fenech also welcomed the agreement, saying it was another step in developing the institute into an international education hub.

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