The Malta Union of Teachers has withdrawn its planned strike action following a meeting with the Education Ministry on Saturday morning.

In a statement, the union said that after a meeting of its general council and a meeting with the Ministry for Education it had decided to withdraw the strike action that was planned to affect all schools across the island on Monday.

The strike had been called after the union objected to amendments to the Education Act, which the union said would remove teachers’ professional status.

The action was withdrawn, the union said, after an agreement that the new clauses related to warrants and licences being tied with training and proficiency be removed.  The MUT also insisted that it would not accept a situation wherein they are accused of mis-interpreting such clauses.

The goverment had withdrawn the controversial amendments on Friday evening.

A principal agreement for amendments in clauses regarding qualifications, homeschooling, school licences, board structures, information gathering and security were also reached, the union said.  These were issues that the MUT had brought up earlier this week, the statement said.  

In light of this agreement, the MUT withdrew the industrial dispute and suspended the strike action that had been called for this coming Monday, but reserved the right to take similar action if the Education Act, or any other act, were tabled without consultation with the union.

Government: "Everybody has won"

In a short statement, the government said that the suspension of the planned strike was a situation where everybody had won.

The statement read that work related to the amendments discussed between the MUT and the Education Ministry would begin soon.  The government said that they were looking forward to turning a new page and continuing to work for the betterment of the education sector and for children, educators, and parents across the country.

Monday is a normal school day, the government said.

AD statement

In a statement earlier, Alternattiva Demokratika said that the government was too hasty in presenting the education bills for discussion in Parliament with the changes being proposed. This is a shame, considering that the draft act was subject to a consultation process some months back. It would have been wiser had the government engaged all partners in an effort to get wider endorsement and the best out of the process throughout.