For how long have you been working at MUT?

I have been at MUT on a full-time basis for the last 12 years, six years of which I served as senior vice-President and the last six as President.

How were these last years?

Well, the passage was ok. I mean, in trade-unionism there’s not much competition. Unlike politics of course. Obviously heading a trade union with so many members literally takes all your time. The hours and responsibility tripled, not to mention the difficult decisions one needs to take. Appreciation, on the other hand, is very low. In a reality, it’s a vocation and I was happy to do it. Now I decided to call it a day. By end of May I will have left.

Why are you stepping down?

It’s a very difficult job. Don’t forget, we are one of the largest trade union on the island with more than 9,000 members from various sectors; primary and secondary education, church, private and state schools, ITS, MCAST and University.

My greatest wish for the union as president was to ensure the future of MUT. As a union, we don’t have government contracts and get funded. We depend 100% on membership. So recently, we discovered the opportunity to sell our premises in Valletta and with that money; we managed to buy this property in Hamrun. 

It was more of an investment, than a simple relocation. Through this investment, MUT now has the possibility of even, if need be, rent out parts of the building. Naturally, if this investment bears its fruit, we can also increase the men power at the union. At the moment, we are only four officials working full time here and we have to keep up with a dozen of daily complains by the thousands of members.

After all this work, there comes a time where you’d feel burnt out. To run for another three years when I know that maybe, my health would not permit me to give my 100% for the union. It would not be fair on either MUT or my family. To work here you need to be dedicated and on tip top form.

So the reason is related to health issues?

12 years of constant debating and lashing, one tends to get eve physically tired. When I visited a couple of doctors, they all told me to take it easier and, as one would assume, I kept on working with the same rate. There came a point where doctors told me, you can go on, but it’s risky.

A wise leader knows when it’s time to go and leave the work load for someone new. Only time will tell.

What were the most frequent complaints by teachers and educators?

We have to take it sector by sector. For instance, when it comes to deal with primary school teachers, what they find most challenging is the way they were expected to keep up with a never ending syllabus with content which is, at least some of it, completely irrelevant.

In secondary schools, the challenge is different. It has to do with this one-size fits-all approach which simply does not make sense. Year after another, journalist give me a quick call after every Matsec statistic and I always tell them the same thing; it’s obvious that the disappointing results are a reflection of today’s system.

To be fair, judging from the latest meetings we had with the ministry, it seems there will be a philosophical change in the approach to secondary education.

It goes without saying, that the educational core will remain the same. However, those who are academically failing can be reached through another approach.

I remember teaching the Pythagoras theorem in primary school. There were those couple of students who would get hold of it as soon as you start writing on the board, but the majority of the class would remain flabbergasted.

The problem is that teachers are not allowed to be flexible. And in some cases, the situation is ridiculous. There are cases where a student’s correct reply to a mathematical problem, is not accepted unless they use the one, very specific method.

Is it a problem of being too rigid in the way teachers do their work? 

It is, yes. It’s like putting a boxer on the ring wearing hand cuffs on. How can that boxer compete?

Did you observe degeneration in the respect for teacher’s authority in recent years?

There’s no beating around the bush. The real kick off for this degeneration process started with Agatha Barbara, when she held the post of Minister for Education, who barely understood what education was all about.

She used to go round in schools, shout at the teachers and reduce them to bits, and of course, the parents continued the trend from there on.

Subsequently, the teacher’s image was tarnished. Later, the government decided to abolish exams and the system of comprehensive schooling started. Stories of the disasters which came soon after are still echoed by senior school teachers today.

Besides Agatha Barbara, the ministers who came after did not help much with this reputation. Nowadays, at least, we have a minister who tries to praise teachers at every possible occasion. Which is very different from the approach we saw in the past.

I remember, the Ministry of Education, back then run by Dolores Cristina, had organised a media campaign against teachers, simply because the government had a quarrel with us at the union over some allowances.

And what had MUT done in this regard?

As a union, we have been asking for a decent campaign so that the public really understands what the teaching job entails. The idea that all the holidays they get are unnecessary is a myth. Teachers have two, not three months of holidays in summer and they would probably need to spend half of that time preparing for the upcoming syllabus. This gets even worse when the syllabus gets changed year after another.

We have been calling on the government for a change in the education law and to be fair, our proposals are being taken into serious consideration.

There is an ever growing problem of finding people willing to take up the job. Is this problem true? How big is it?

This will be one of the greatest problems which the country has to face in the near future. I’m not saying this problem will affect the sector, it will affect society in general. English language teacher is a classic example. It is becoming literally impossible to find an English language teacher.

But what’s the problem exactly?

It’s complex. Primarily, the first biggest problem is related to the conditions of work. There are a dozen of other sectors which are willing to pay much more than what any teacher earns today. The issue is that the scale salary structure is impossible to break.

If the conditions are so weak, the ones which are most skilled, are choosing others careers because they know they can be paid better.

So the two, or three month summer vacation is no longer attracting people in the sector?

Let’s make it clear, there always was an element of preparation involved. However, there was a time when the syllabus didn’t change much. I remember my teachers using recycled notes, year after year. The paper would be so old, it had turned yellow.

Nowadays, things are different. The syllabus change and so does the material.

But there is also the issue related to the lack of support for teachers. They deal with children on a daily basis but have no protection in the case of a simple injury or argument.

A recent phenomenon is also emerging where parents going through a marriage separation process, use teachers as witnesses in the case.

What about Learning Support Assistants? Do they have to face similar challenges? And do they fall under MUT?

Yes they do. LSAs are a separate issue on their own.  But the problem originates from its core. Our system tried to start a process of inclusion but I believe we started this on the wrong foot. Inclusion does not mean putting every child of different ability and disability in the same room and expect teachers and LSAs to do miracles.

Like teachers, LSAs are also very difficult to come by. Those who did choose to join in the sector, realised that it’s not worth the money. Their job is much crazier than one thinks and their role is not appreciated. To stay with a challenging student all day, is no joke.

There also seems to be a problem with the preparation process for LSAs. There are those who do not get qualified but are still trusted to take care of very challenging kids, and on the other extreme, those who want to get qualified have to endure a very rigorous process to get a diploma.

There was one particular teacher who passed her exams for three years. On her fourth and last year, one particular tutor out of three gave her a fail and for some mysterious reason, she was not allowed to get her degree. She now has to face another year. I don’t know why the system is being so selective when the need for teachers is so big.

What can the authorities do to help make use of the teachers’ full potential in the education system?

We have to empower the teachers. We don’t want the system from above to be so rigid. A teacher needs to be flexible and needs to be allowed to work and expand.

By system from above, are you referring to political interference?

Election time is months away. Let’s wait and see what happens. Last election, we had the tablets war. Let’s see what the political parties will come up with this year.

Politics should be left out of education completely. We cannot experience changes with every new Minister of Education. The sector should be led with an independent committee involving all stake holders.

What about you? Are you in for politics?

No. Trade unionism is something which I will always love and I cannot exclude returning to serve at a trade union in the future. But when it comes to politics, I have no interest whatsoever.