Mr Bencini explained that the government was planning a reform of the educational sector behind the union’s back, adding that so far it had only had a couple of meetings with the Education Minister on the matter. The union had been told that the first meeting was an informal, consultative, meeting and that everything was still at draft stage.

However, said Mr Bencini, since then, high level officials and the minister himself had made public announcements in which they had given the impression that there were concrete proposals in hand.

To add insult to injury, a letter the ministry had sent to a number of heads of schools identifies a number of measures that could be implemented by January 2005 in the form of pilot projects. The union knew nothing about these pilot projects and could not give members that called in for more information any further details, he said.

The second meeting the union had with the minister came as a result of the fact that it had gone public with its dissent over the government’s attitude, Mr Bencini said.

He said that the reforms planned for the sector are managerial reforms, and explained that the government wants to cluster schools into regional groups which will then have a board of governors together with what its being called a “change manager” or coordinator.

The union is not necessarily against these changes, he said. However, it expects to be involved in the process and will not accept a done deal after it has been approved in Parliament.

At this point, Mr Bencini questioned the reform itself and asked whether the people forming part of the board of governors, or the “change managers”, will be paid. “I do not suppose that these people will work for free, which brings us to the question: how much will this reform cost then?”

If money is going to be spent then “we insist that the reform should be done in the classrooms and not outside,” he said. In this context, he complained that some time ago the union had made a proposal to reduce the number of children in each class and this was turned down on the basis that the necessary funds were not available.

Regarding speculation as to whether the Education Department is going to be privatised, Mr Bencini insisted that all he did was query whether it was going to happen and he had never stated it as a fact.

“However,” he added, “When the proposals being tabled suggest that teachers will no longer be employed by the public service commission but by some independent board, the union has no alternative but to wonder whether the teachers’ conditions will be safeguarded.”

Mr Bencini said that most of the proposals made by the union to various governments along the years had been related to reforming the educational system in the best interests of students and not aimed at improving the conditions of teachers as workers, although this was also tackled.

The union had made suggestions on improving education to various governments and it will back the government with every reform that will help improve the present system. But it will not accept that the government can trample on it. “Consultation does not mean information sessions, there must be a measure of negotiation,” he insisted.