In his column last week, Stephen Calleja dedicated his contribution to criticise the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport and the undersigned as Communications Coordinator at the same Ministry, for not answering a question put to us by a Standard Publications journalist with regard to the prices of school uniforms and inflation in education.

He made a number of allegations and comments that are factually untrue or unfair.

Mr Calleja said that there is no substitute for the undersigned at the Communications Office of the Ministry. False. Ms Janet Debrincat is an administrator in the same office and was present all the time I was out on leave.

He said that I never replied to questions put by his journalist on school uniforms. False. I received a phone call from the journalist who asked me two questions with regard to schools uniforms and I replied there and then.

He implied that my presence with Ministers Dolores Cristina and Giovanna Debono during a visit to see work on a new school in Gozo meant that I was not on vacation leave on the week in question. False and unfair. My leave was booked and approved according to normal procedures and can be ascertained from the Ministry’s records.

He implied that the Ministry of Education is on holiday. Unfair.

He concluded that the Ministry of Education is inactive. Untrue and unfair.

He said that I did not insert the “out of office” reply on my computer. True.

He said that I was to give a reaction on a story regarding Inflation in Education and I did not. True.

When this article appeared I decided to call Stephen Calleja personally – we have known each other for ages – and I managed to get through and speak to him on Friday after several attempts. I explained the facts to him and suggested that if they don’t get a reply to an e-mail journalist normally try to follow it up by phone. Had his journalist cared to do this, she would have been informed that I was on leave and someone else would answer her questions. But the journalist never phoned the office to follow up on her question.

Anyway, I thought that after the conversation we had cleared the air without a lot of fuss. At his request I sent him the School Uniforms Policy drafted by the Directorate for Educational Services, which in fact was published in your newspaper last Sunday.

What I never expected was the base attack on me personally, which Stephen Calleja unleashed in his regular column entitled “Proactive, reactive... or dormant”.

Stephen Calleja accused me of not doing my job properly and that I hardly ever reply to media questions or take long to do so. He repeated the lie that we do not replace the communications coordinator while I was on leave. He also had the cheek to imply that the Minister of Education herself is one who needs to be pushed into doing something rather than take the initiative, or is not doing much and I am a reflection of her.

This is a country where freedom of speech and expression are guaranteed and Stephen Calleja like all of us has the right to use them. But he has no right to abuse them. He can ask his journalists and others from all media houses, what their relations are with the communications office of the Ministry of Education Culture, Youth and Sport and how prompt we are with our replies and how pro-active we are with them.

Stephen Calleja chose to insist in saying factual untruths and pass unfair comments on Minister Cristina and myself. Your readers know Minister Cristina, Stephen Calleja and myself and they can judge for themselves.

I will not take this issue up again and will let Stephen Calleja indulge in further mud slinging and unethical behaviour at his will.

Mario Schiavone

Communications Coordinator

Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport