The Nationalist Party today expressed solidarity with teachers who are going through a time of exhaustion as the profession reaches its lowest point yet. For the Nationalist Party, it would have been much better if the Education Minister Evarist Bartolo rid his ministry of corruption and concentrated instead on the real and increasing problems facing teachers and those employed in the education sector.

In a statement, the PN said it is unfortunate that more effort is being wasted by Minister Bartolo to defend his diminishing reputation than to implement the promises made to teachers before the general election, among them:

• Promise number 45: “We will continue to improve the working conditions of professionals in the educational sector so that they can be more successful in the teaching profession”.
• Promise number 39: “We commit ourselves to ensure that teachers focus more on their teaching roles and less on clerical and bureaucratic work”.
• Promise number 40: “We will implement a system of direct and continuous consultation with teachers to create a coalition based on trust between the Government, the Faculty of Education, and the MUT for the drafting and implementation of education policy.
• Promise number 46: “We will launch an educational and informative campaign to increase the awareness and respect of the public towards the important role of teachers…”

Despite the nice words before the elections we know today that the reality is very different. The profession has been robbed of the respect that every teacher deserved. This was confirmed by the MUT earlier this week in a press conference, the PN said.

While the Nationalist Party has always been careful not to thrust the education sector into partisan debates, it cannot fail to note that the situation teachers find themselves in today are symptomatic of a Government rife with corruption, distracted from the reality of people – including teachers and other administrators in the education sector.

The Nationalist Party insisted that Evarist Bartolo carries political responsibility for the corruption within his own Ministry, and give the ruling hand to only those who are willing to put forward teachers’ interests.