MUT lifts directive on attendance records for MCAST educators; students request compensation

Giulia Magri Tuesday, 22 January 2019, 13:23 Last update: about 6 years ago

The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) has lifted a directive for lecturers to refrain from passing attendance records to management at the Malta College for Arts Science and Technology. The decision was taken after MCAST transferred the funds for works resources and published the agreed policy on the use of such resources. Other directives remain in place but could be lifted by the end of the week.

On December 4, MCAST educators were issued a list of directives from MUT following the failure of the college to honour the collective agreement reached with the union earlier that year.

Using students to get your rights is not the way forward: KunsillStudenti MCAST

When contacted by the newsroom, the president of Kunsill Studenti MCAST (KSM) Ahmed Lamlum said that the council was informed that lecturers were to take attendance once more. Earlier in December KSM had issued an appeal to the MCAST offices and stakeholders to take action in regards to the amount of students who were waiting for their grant and stipend, to be able to purchase any required school materials. Lamlum said that there are students who are still waiting for the application to be accepted, grant money which many students are fully dependent on for the scholastic year.

“Using students to get your rights is not the way forward, MUT and MCAST must find a more suitable solution, and once an agreement is sorted, they must compensate the wasted time from students studies and assignments!”

Stipends to be given on Monday 28 January

An official statement published by the MCAST Communication Office states that MCAST will be giving out stipends to students on Monday 28 January, regardless that educators were not taking down attendance. MCAST will be paying the stipend to all students, with the exception of a small number (1% of the submitted applications) where a decision on their eligibility still has to be taken. Alongside another 11% of applications where additional information was asked from the student, therefore a decision with regards to their eligibility cannot be taken either.

MUT president Marco Bonnici said that he is fully aware that the directives affect MCAST students. However, he said that the issue will be solved by the end of this week, as MCAST will be handing out the salaries. "If we are satisfied with the adjustments and outcome all directives will be lifted by the end of the week."