The 23-year-old supply drama teacher who was found at the bottom of Dingli cliffs together with one of his students – who died in the fall – did not possess a warrant to teach, the Council for the Teaching Profession announced this afternoon.

Erin Tanti and 15-year-old Lisa Marie Zahra – who he taught at the St Michael Foundation school in San Gwann – had been reported missing on 18 March, and found at the bottom of Dingli cliffs the following day. Mr Tanti was critically injured and is presently in intensive care, but Ms Zahra was confirmed dead on site.

Media reports suggested that Mr Tanti was in possession of a temporary warrant as a supply teacher, but the Council for the Teaching Profession confirmed that it issued no such warrant to him: he never applied for one.

Earlier in the day, the government published a letter by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo in which he instructed the council and his ministry to ensure that all teachers employed in schools – including supply teachers – have a warrant to teach, in light of apparent shortcomings in the Education Act.

“It results that we need to take the necessary steps to ensure that everyone who teaches at a school, even supply teachers, has a warrant – even a temporary one – as required by law, Mr Bartolo wrote to his permanent secretary Joseph Caruana and the council’s president Mario Caruana.

“It appears that there are shortcomings in the Education Act, in the administrative system and in the procedures used in recent years which may permit people to teach in schools without a warrant, due to a failure to carry out the necessary scrutiny,” he added.

The minister asked his permanent secretary and the CTP president to identify these shortcomings by the end of May to allow the ministry to address them.

In comments made to The Malta Independent earlier this week, Mr Bartolo confirmed that the case was followed up by the section responsible for non-state schools within the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education’s Education Regulatory Compliance Section

The ministry sought to determine how Mr Tanti was recruited, whether he had obtained the necessary qualifications and warrant to teach and whether the St Michael Foundation adhered to the procedures stipulated by law in the engagement of its teachers.

Mr Bartolo said that he was assured that these procedures were followed, although he did point out that the CTP’s own procedures were still ongoing.

Asked whether he felt that the present vetting process for teachers was adequate, Mr Bartolo pointed out that even screening by the police and by the Attorney General’s Office was involved in Mr Tanti’s case.

But he did appeal to teachers – and their employers – to ensure that they use social networking sites such as Facebook carefully.

“We need to ensure that whoever employs teachers, as well as the teachers themselves, become far more prudent and careful, because the illusion that Facebook is a private space you can put everything on is dangerous. Teachers must set an example to their students,” he maintained.

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-03-26/news/lisa-marie-zahras-funeral-to-be-held-friday-4386881536/

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-03-20/news/police-silent-on-dingli-cliffs-tragedy-4321411072/

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-03-19/news/15-year-old-girl-youth-missing-4312891392/