Updated at 8.50am with PN statement

The teachers’ union has expressed fears that the introduction of 13 new subjects next year would result in more staff shortages, again accusing the government of lack of planning.

Malta Union of Teachers president Marco Bonnici insisted on Thursday that with 13 new subjects in the coming scholastic year, the problem of an insufficient number of educators that persisted for years would only get worse.

“If the government pushes forward with its campaign to get students to choose these new subjects, the MUT can foresee a situation where the Education Ministry will struggle to have all students covered with enough teachers,” he told the Times of Malta.

At present, he said, such a problem existed with regard to a number of subjects, namely the three core ones: Maltese, English and mathematics.

Mr Bonnici said the union had raised the staff shortage issue on several occasions, however, so far, “no formal discussions have been held”.

“There are not enough educators to teach traditional subjects, let alone to cater for an additional 13 applied subjects being introduced next year. Despite this, the ministry is embarking on campaigns to attract students to these new subjects without stating who will be teaching them,” he pointed out.

Questions on the matter sent to the Education Ministry were not answered by the time of writing. 

The union was also concerned that while there was “massive investment” in the labs and workshops to be used for the teaching of the 13 new subjects, a move aimed at encouraging more students to go for such options, others were becoming “second class in terms of resources”, Mr Bonnici remarked.

“The MUT is highly concerned about the situation and is calling on the education authorities to take the necessary measures before the system collapses due to lack of human resources,” he added.

According to circulars issued to educators by the ministry, education officers, together with MUT members at Church and independent schools, the University of Malta, the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology and the Institute of Tourism Studies are in the process of finalising the first draft of the so-called Secondary Education Applied Certificate syllabi for nine of the subjects. Consultations on the development of the certificate programmes in maths, Maltese, English and science are also under way.

In recent years, the union often flagged the issue of an increasing shortage of teachers, urging the government to adequately address the problem. It has also often accused the government of getting projections wrong and miscalculating the number of educators needed to cover all lessons.

Though calls for applications for teaching jobs were still being made after the start of the scholastic year in September, the Education Ministry had downplayed the problem, insisting there were only very few spaces that had yet to be filled when school doors opened. 

PN statement

In a statement, shadow minister Clyde Puli and MEP Francis Zammit Dimech said the government needed to immediately establish a national strategy to attract greater numbers of motivated candidates with a sound academic or professional background and pedagogical competencies to the teaching profession.

Mr Puli said it was unacceptable that the government was introducing 13 additional applied subjects as of the next academic year without being sure of teachers' availability.

"This is unfair on schools, administrators, teachers and students who will have to face all the stress. This shows lack of long-term planning by the government in the field of education. The government is aware of the problem and there were already instances when the government had to make use of students for teaching purposes."

Dr Zammit Dimech, a member of the EP's Committee on Education, who also tabled several proposals to a a report on the modernisation of education in Europe, said the government needed to take concrete actions to improve teacher status including providing more professional opportunities and improve working conditions by increasing teachers' remuneration and ensuring their safety and protection in schools.

The latter was of crucial importance in the light of a recent study by the union showing that 87.4% of respondents had experienced aggression in their schools.

The government should also provide teachers with support comprising mentoring programmes, peer-to-peer learning and the sharing of best practices.