The Church Schools Association (CSA) said today it deplored the way that the MUT expressed its opinion regarding recruitment of staff in Church Schools by using “sweeping statements and ignoring the procedures as advocated in the agreement between the Church Authorities and the MUT for teaching grades in Church Schools.”
It said such “repeatedly bullying attitudes” by the MUT towards the Secretariat for Catholic Education and the Church Schools leaders is neither respectful nor conducive to any progress in education in Malta.
“Once again the MUT are proving that they do not have a clue about the Catholic ethos of Church Schools when they frivolously latch it on to centralization and bad practice in recruitment. Whilst the CSA totally agrees with the Secretariat for Catholic Education in disapproving of any alleged irregular recruitment practices, it reiterates its position against advocating centralization when the educational trend in Malta is towards devolution and autonomy of schools. It is indeed intriguing that the MUT is travelling in the opposite direction. Our model of respecting the different charisms of schools within a collegial structure is successful (even academically) and gives a very valid contribution to a large proportion of Maltese students.
We feel offended by the way MUT chose to tackle allegations and invite them to adopt a dialogical approach that respects the dignity of our profession.”
MUT reaction
In reaction, the MUT said it was not surprised at the stance taken by the CSA “given that at least two members of its committee lead schools that have been reported with highly questionable and debatably abusive recruitment practices. The Union asks the CSA to make sure that before its members preach about ethos it makes sure that they are practicing it themselves. Meanwhile the Union also asks the CSA about what measures it will be taking with respect to its own members who are found to have abused the recruitment process.”
MEA reaction
The Malta Employers' Association stated that probationary regulations apply equally for both employers and employees, and that neither party is bound to give any reason why employment is terminated during a probationary period. The association said that the allegation by the Malta Union of Teachers, that there are employees in church schools whose employment was terminated during probation without being given a reason, is in no way illegal, even if it happened. Likewise, a teacher may abandon his/her post during a probationary period during a scholastic year without justifying his/her actions, even though in many cases this could have serious repercussions on the welfare of the students.
The association said that the rights and obligations of both employers and employees in employment legislation are to be respected, and any employer cannot be accused of malpractice if he is utilizing the entitlement to these rights as defined in Article 36(2) of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act.