The government has once again miscalculated the number of educators needed to cover all teaching posts in State schools, according to the teachers’ union.

With school gates reopening this week for a new scholastic year, there are some vacancies which have not yet been filled.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo assured the Times of Malta last month that the start of the academic year would not be marred by staff shortages, as happened last year, also saying that he was “very confident” that there were enough teachers to fill all posts. But with students in State schools returning to the classroom on Wednesday, the Malta Union of Teachers confirmed that it was informed just over a week ago about positions yet to be filled.

Speaking to the Times of Malta, union head Marco Bonnici said that while the government had been giving assurances that the shortages issue would not be repeated, it now seemed the situation was no better than last year.

At the start of the 2017 scholastic year, the government was forced to resort to asking university students to take up teaching jobs as no educators were available.

The decision sparked outrage, with students, parents and teachers complaining the matter had long been flagged without any remedial action being taken. Retired teachers were also called in.

“The government’s projections were once again incorrect. Some educators have moved to non-State schools, mainly to Church schools, and as is expected, they handed in their resignation at the end of summer,” Mr Bonnici said.

“But the government should have planned for this. We have long been flagging such issue.”

According to the MUT chief, primary school teachers, as well as those for English and maths at secondary level, were needed.

Mr Bonnici said that while the government was not expected to issue calls to university students  this time round, the calls being issued are a “last ditch attempt” at resolving an issue that cannot be addressed just two days before children returned to their classrooms.

“Year after year we repeat the same thing but nothing changes,” Mr Bonnici lamented.

“Apart from the projections problem, which is obviously an issue, the government needs to address the fact that we need to attract more young people to a career in teaching. This can be addressed by introducing certain incentives such as higher stipends, for instance.”

The issue of greater workloads was also highlighted by the union head. He said that as a result of the staff shortages, the pressure on teachers was constantly on the rise as their work had increased drastically to counteract the lack of staff available.

He was quick to add that such shortages also meant that the education system was at risk of falling into crisis if a number of teachers fell ill or become unavailable at the same time.

“The reality is that the flu season is just around the corner and teachers are even more likely to fall ill since they are constantly in close contact with a lot of people,” Mr Bonnici explained.

“What is going to happen when, come the colder months, more teachers call in sick at the same time? Who will replace them?”

Calls for applications have been issued by the Education Ministry, both on its website and on social media, with the closing date listed as October 1, a week after teachers return to school.

Questions sent to the Education Ministry were unanswered by the time of going to print.