The Nationalist Party and the government engaged in an argument on teachers’ wages, with the PN saying it expects the government to introduce long-awaited improvements to teachers’ wages without delay, with the government replying that it has closed collective agreements and had registered progress in discussions with the Malta Union of Teachers.

In a statement on Saturday, shadow ministers for education and tackling cost of living Justin Schembri and Ivan Castillo described the government as being a miser with educators.

The teaching profession deserved better, the PN said, adding that adequate salaries and conditions of work were one of the PN’s leading priorities.

The PN said it Robert Abela and Clifton Grima to introduce the salary increases that all teachers were promised without delay, after last November’s nation-wide school strike because the Government did not propose a fitting financial package to the Union.

The party said that, while it understood the sensitive nature of these negotiations, in which it is not involved, it also understood that all teachers “now had to be given what they deserved, what by right should be theirs, after months of waiting….”

Every passing day is a lost opportunity to make teachers and educators feel appreciated, needed and respected by the Government, said the PN.

In reply, the government said that it had concluded several collective agreements to improve the conditions of work in several sectors, and it will not be a miser with educators, to whom it is offering an even better package than the one it signed last.

The PN is trying to muddle the waters and is isolated in its populist aims, the government said.

The MUT, according to the government, is recognising the progress that has been registered in the past weeks.

The government said it is investing heavily in educational infrastructure and is aiming for teachers to have a the sustainable financial package they deserve.