The Malta Union of Teachers has been making representations with the respective authorities for months to ensure that the Government establishes a national strategy to attract youth to the education professions.

In a statement MUT notes that there are currently not enough teachers to teach traditional subjects, let alone to cater for an additional 13 applied subjects being introduced next year.

MUT said that despite this, the Ministry for Education is embarking on campaigns to attract students to these new subjects without stating who shall be teaching these students. Furthermore, the massive investment carried out in labs and workshops of applied subjects aimed to attract students to the same is not balanced by an investment in other option subjects which have now become second class in terms of resources.

MUT said that it is highly concerned about the situation and is calling for the educational authorities to take the necessary measures before the system collapses due to lack of human resources.

PN statment; Invest in teaching profession before it is too late 

"Government needs to without further delay establish a national strategy to attract greater numbers of motivated candidates with a sound academic or professional background and pedagogical competencies to the teaching profession." Shadow Minister for Education Clyde Puli and PN MEP FrancisZammit Dimech made these remarks after the Malta Union of Teachers issued a statement to express its concern on the absence of a national strategy to attract youth to the teaching profession.

Puli said "It is unacceptable that the government is introducing 13 additional applied subjects as of the next academic year without being sure of teachers' availability. This is unfair on schools, administrators, teachers and students who will have to face all the stress. This shows lack of long-term planning by the government in the field of education. The government is aware of the problem and there were already instances when the government had to make use of students for teaching purposes."

Zammit Dimech, a member of the Committee on Education who also tabled several proposals to a report on the modernisation of education in Europe said "The government needs to take concrete actions to improve teacher status including providing more professional opportunities and improve working conditions by increasing teachers' remuneration and ensuring their safety and protection in schools. The latter is of crucial importance in the light of a recent study by MUT showing that 87.4% of respondents had  experienced aggression in their schools. 23% claimed it on a daily basis with another 23% on a weekly basis. The government should also provide teachers with support comprising mentoring programmes, peer-to-peer learning and the sharing of best practices."

Partit Nazzjonalista believes that teachers guarantee quality teaching. Their skills and effectiveness are the basis of the education system and thus the government has no other option but to invest heavily in the profession without further delay before it is too late.