The Malta Union of Teachers today warned the government to be careful with any statements to the media and insisted that tablets will only be used for training and familiarization before an agreement is reached.  

“MUT would like to clarify that as was previously agreed between the MUT and the Ministry for Education and Employment (MEDE), the use of tablets by teachers and LSAs during this period, and until there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) about it, is limited to training purposes and familiarisation only. The Union also notes that it is important that all Colleges are aware of this to avoid any issues that could affect discussions on the MOU.

Furthermore, the MUT has asked the MEDE to ensure that statements made to the media are in line with what was agreed upon as well. No one can expect tablets to be used in classrooms until an MOU is in place and news statements and reports that tablets will be in all year 4 classes from Monday are highly misleading. Tablets in fact will start being distributed to children as from December 2016 and an incremental use can only be expected from January 2017 subject to an agreed MOU.”