New law will revoke, replace teachers' warrants, MUT complains

Amendments to the Education Act presented to parliament without consultation will put teachers and the teaching profession under siege, the Malta Union of Teachers charged on Tuesday. 

The union said it was strongly against various parts of the bill, not least a clause which will revoke all 'permanent' teaching warrants and replace them by new warrants which will be renewed on the basis of continuous professional development and a proficiency test.   

"The MUT strongly objects and considers this as the first attack on the profession since teachers were given their professional status in 1988," the union said.

The requirement of ongoing training was unnecessary since current agreements already provided for it, it said. 

Marco Bonnici, MUT president, said the bill also failed to clearly outline the requirements for eligibility for the warrant for teachers and learning support assistants.

The union was also concerned about clauses regulating home-schooling. Those educating children at home would not need to be qualified and hold a warrant to teach, the union said.

People who wish to hide any abuse on their children can easily do so by not sending them to school and claiming that...