The Malta Union of Teachers has registered an industrial dispute with the government and reserved the right to take legal action after a head teacher of a large government school was transferred to a smaller one.

In a statement, the union said the head teacher was appointed following a specific call for applications for that particular school – as is normal practice for schools of that size – and the head teacher should therefore not have been transferred to a smaller school.  

This, said the union, was unjust and inhumane. The union said the incident set a serious precedent and was unacceptable.

In a counter-statement, the Education ministry said that the dispute was declared without any form of consultation beforehand. It said the union is fully aware that the deployment of heads of school is a management prerogative.

The head of school referred to has the experience to be able to lead the new school he has been assigned to. It is also healthy that after a number of years managing and leading a school, heads of school are given a new challenge. The experience gained in one school will be an asset in the management of another, the ministry said.