Education Minster Owen Bonnici told The Malta Independent that the meeting between the Ministry and the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) on the much-awaited COVID-19 school protocols was a positive one.

This newsroom was informed that on Monday, the MUT and the ministry were to have a meeting to discuss a way forward with regards to COVID-19 school protocols.

On Tuesday, the newsroom approached the minister to ask about the outcome of this meeting.

“It was a positive meeting and we are committed to keep communicating with the MUT which is a core stakeholder in this. I want to thank them for the mature, cautious manner they are approaching the situation.”

Asked if the MUT and the ministry reached an agreement, Bonnici said that there are still meetings to be held between the two, without disclosing whether there was an agreement or disagreement.

Notably, earlier today, the Union issued a statement in which it bluntly said that it will not let the Ministry the Ministry “steamroll over educators”, blasting the Education Ministry for wanted to hasten the conclusion of school protocols after it received news that they are set to be released on Friday.

The Union explained that at no time was it said, during Monday’s meeting, that the protocols would be published on Friday – only days after the discussion on these same protocols began.

This is similar to the situation that took place at the start of August wherein the Education Minister insisted that workgroups are meeting and discussing the protocols and measures.

However, MUT President Marco Bonnici has dismissed this claim. “So far, we are in discussions regarding the curriculum, but not about protocols or measures to be put in place by September.”

Bonnici had also said that the Union is disappointed that the Ministry is not taking the summer months as an opportunity to discuss the way forward. “The Minister expressed that SkolaSajf is being used as a model for the protocols and measures which will be adopted in September, but SkolaSajf is simply a model and has nothing to do with a normal school set-up.” 

UPE survey results

A recent survey executed by the Union of Professional Educators (UPE) showed that 87% of participating educators did not agree with returning back to school while 92% expressed a lack of confidence in the government’s school protocols.

This newsroom also asked the Minister about this to which he replied: “this survey was done when we were still coming up with the guidelines and finalising the work that we had since last April. Naturally, I am optimistic that once we give out this information, we will be able to answer people's questions.”

He explained that at the moment discussions are underway with the Superintendence of Public Health to conclude the protocols that will be implemented so that we can safeguard our children's safety.

“This process is expected to be concluded in the coming hours and when this happens, we can speak with all stakeholders and give concrete replies to all the questions they had or might have. After this process, we will be communicating with the public and the media on what will be happening.”

It has now been revealed in the previously mentioned MUT statement that this is process is set to end on Friday. 

SkolaSajf’s success is a case of fact not opinion

This newsroom pointed out to Bonnici that certain state schoolteachers have told this newsroom that they believe that his emphasis on the fact that there have been no transmissions in SkolaSajf establishments as a reason to not worry about spreading the virus in school is not convincing.

When asked for this opinion on this, he said that this is not about opinion but about fact. "It is a fact that there were no COVID-19 transmissions in SkolaSajf schools. Naturally, we took all the required protocols to safeguard children's and teacher's safety alike and we welcome any educators who wish to speak further on the topic."