Some good news for both lecturers, students and administrators at the Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology (MCAST) made headlines this week.

The Malta Union of Teachers suspended directives at the educational institution, stating that this came following discussions held with the Education Minister, Clifton Grima, and significant progress registered in negotiations.

Collective agreement negotiations had been heated last year, with the union having issued directives. Protests had even been held, by both teachers and students.

Last December, things seemed to start getting better, when the union began talking directly to the education minister. In January, Marco Bonnici, president of the union, told The Malta Independent on Sunday in an interview that discussions between the government and the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) over a new collective agreement for MCAST lecturers had progressed, and the union was hoping that the issue would be resolved by the end of January. That did not happen and agreement has not yet been reached, but the most recent announcement by the union shows that progress has been made.

The directives have been suspended until the end of February, the MUT said. Last week "This shall enable further negotiations to conclude the MCAST Collective Agreement." One hopes that this will be the case and that finally, after the current agreement having expired over three years ago, a new collective agreement will finally be in place.

It was not right that educators have had to wait this long for a new agreement. It should have been concluded before it expired. The lecturers should be given the pay and conditions they deserve, especially given the rising costs in Malta in recent years.

It is understandable, given the length of time that was taken, that the union opted to impose directives. A union, after all, has a right to issue directives. It is a shame however, that students had to be impacted because of this situation. If agreement is not reached by the end of February, and if the union again contemplates directives, one hopes that the impact on students would be minimal.

During the interview with this newsroom last January, Bonnici also said that "traditionally, MCAST and ITS move forward together in terms of working conditions and financial packages. MCAST is much bigger than ITS, so it is reasoned that MCAST has to be the driver when it comes to conditions and financials, and ITS must then come into the structure that will be set."

This means that once there is an agreement regarding MCAST, we can expect agreement regarding ITS educators to follow soon after.