Reference is made to Mary Camilleri’s letter entitled “Education Ministry’s bullying” (TMIS, 1 April).

It appears that Ms Camilleri is not privy to all the facts concerning the particular case referred to in her letter and perhaps should have checked all the facts before hurling unfounded accusations at the Ministry.

The first point to mention is that at no point was there a court involved in the case referred to in Ms Camilleri’s letter. The case in question involved a complaint made by a teacher to the Ombudsman.

In this case, the Ombudsman, while he made the recommendations he did, also reiterated in no uncertain terms “…I cannot conclude that there was any act of misconduct on the part of the Directorate, which acted in accordance to what was established by the competent authority at the time of complainant’s application.” The Ombudsman concluded by saying that “… I recommend that the Directorate pays the arrears due to complainant to the extent that his claim or part thereof is not at law barred by prescription.”

Given this state of affairs and in view of the fact that the Ministry always honoured the Ombudsman’s recommendations, although it has no legal obligation to do so, and following legal advice, the complainant was informed by the Ministry that it was ready to effect the recommended payment to the teacher concerned as recommended by the Ombudsman and that payment would be effected as an ex gratia payment in full and final settlement of all claims in respect of this claim.

Although to date the complainant has unfortunately refused to sign a declaration to this effect, the Ministry’s offer remains open.

Mario Schiavone

Communications Coordinator

Ministry of Education and Employment