There is no shortage of teachers in the state’s schools, Education Minister Clifton Grima said today.

Answering questions by the media about the concern of teacher shortages around the island, Grima said that workers at the Education Ministry which is being led by Permanent Secretary Matthew Vella have confirmed that there are no shortages of teachers.

“I can confirm that with regards to vacancies and teachers in the state’s schools there are no problems, and each student will have a teacher and will be able to continue with the syllabus,” Grima said.

Grima also said that government will continue to take initiative to attract more educators by offering better working conditions, better facilities and support.

“Nowadays we have a strong economy and even though the world is going through hard times, our economy is projected to keep on growing. This sets us up in a good position to continue working on the good which already exists and improving where improvement is needed.”

Grima also confirmed that in the coming weeks discussions will start with regard to the sectoral collective agreement with the teachers unions for the benefit of the educators. “I believe that the teaching profession cannot only be tied to a financial package boost, it is important but it is not everything.”

“On a national level we have to constantly work to raise the awareness of the importance of the work done by our educators. We have to make educators stakeholders in the education sector in order to push the sector forward together.”

Pressured on what else the government can do to attract more people to the teaching profession, Grima said that improving the school’s facilities, better work conditions and better services infrastructure are at the centre of the way forward.

With regard to the preparation of the scholastic year, Grima said that this was not only an issue of getting students into classes and at their desks, “a lot of other people are involved including people involved in the breakfast, after school activities and so on.”

Covid-19 

Grima said that State schools this year are operating as if the pandemic never happened.

“The pandemic has passed and the reality is that we are looking at a scholastic year which is normal, pre pandemic times. The education sector was dynamic throughout the pandemic and we learnt a lot from those times. In a worse case scenario we have the tools to adapt once again.”

Grima did say however that certain hygiene campaigns will remain in schools but the most important factor is that students are at their desk and learning.

MUT reaction

President of the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) Marco Bonnici told The Malta Independent that shortages of teachers will be measured after the first day of school for all schools in the island.

He also said that as it occurs each year, there will be a number of resignations in the sector. Bonnici said that he hopes that the number of teachers this year will reach pre-covid numbers.

 

Bonnici said that an obvious issue the sector is facing is a shortage of teachers in subjects such as mathematics, sciences and English.