MUT takes action as MCAST tells lecturers to teach same syllabus in reduced lesson time

Albert Galea Wednesday, 3 October 2018, 09:25 Last update: about 7 years ago

Lecturers at MCAST have been instructed by the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) to reduce the content of their study units to match a reduction in lesson time that was being imposed unto them by the school.

MUT President Marco Bonnici revealed to this newsroom last week that MCAST had imposed a reduction in student entitlement hours, but had expected lecturers to fit the same amount of content into the reduced lesson hours.

As a result, they have instructed lecturers to reduce the content of their units accordingly to match the entitlement hours.

In a statement issued by the MUT following discussions with the MCAST management, the union said that the school was being “very short-sighted and is not seeing the implications” of its decision.

Bonnici told The Malta Independent that MCAST intended on cutting at least 12.5% of the lesson entitlement of students. He also said that in some courses, the lesson entitlement had been reduced by half.

The situation affects vocational units and not academic units, and Bonnici that this is incredibly worrying considering that MCAST’s mission is in fact to bring vocational subjects at par with academic subjects.

Bonnici lamented that it was the students who were suffering for the school’s decision, and called on MCAST to find a solution for this matter.

Another issue has surfaced between MCAST and the MUT, this time related to the adjustments that had to be implemented to the salaries of members of staff following the collective agreement signed earlier in summer.

Bonnici told this newsroom that when the agreement was signed it was clear that for some reason, MCAST did not have the personnel capable of working out salaries. As a result the adjustments stipulated in the collective agreement had been ‘messed up’, leaving members of staff having to go and compare and work their own salaries out manually themselves.

Bonnici lamented that the MUT had flagged this issue numerous times and that each time the school had assured them that the issue would not occur. However, despite these assurances, the issue had indeed occurred with most adjustments being issued incorrectly.

In a statement regarding the issue, the union said that they were following the matter and that they expected the respective offices at MCAST to shoulder responsibility for these “serious shortcomings.”