UPDATE : The Malta Union of Teachers has called off Monday’s strike after a last-ditch conciliatory meeting with the Education Ministry on Saturday morning. In a statement, the MUT said it was assured that a proposal to tie teachers’ warrants to continuous assessment had been ditched, and a proposed Education Act withdrawn. Times of Malta / Malta Independent
Prime Minister Muscat confirmed this on twitter
I have just been informed that following a positive meeting between @EvaristBartolo and @MaltaMUT , Monday’s strike has been called off. We look forward towards tackling pending issues together -JM
— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) October 6, 2018
Statement by MUT:
“Wara li tard ilbieraħ l-MUT irċeviet in-notifika mill-Ministeru tal-Edukazzjoni, fejn ġiet infurmata li l-att tal-edukazzjoni propost kien ġie rtirat mill-Parlament, il-Kunsill tal-MUT iltaqa’ b’urġenza dalogħdu sabiex janalizza s-sitwazzjoni. Din il-laqgħa kienet segwita minn laqgħa bejn l-uffiċjali u l-Ministru Hon. Evarist Bartolo, is Segretarju Parlamentari Hon. Clifton Grima, Dr. Francis Fabri u Dr. Charmaine Cristiano fejn matulha l-MUT elenkat mill-ġdid l-issues li tqajmu matul dawn l-aħħar jiem. L-MUT talbet assigurazzjoni li l-ewwel nett il-klawżoli elenkati minnha fl-att jitneħħew qabel ma’ l-att jerġa jibda jiġi diskuss bejn iż-żewġ partijiet. L-MUT insistiet ukoll li mhix ser taċċetta sitwazzjoni fejn jerġa’ jingħad lilha li l-klawżoli ġew misinterpretati. Għaldaqstant intlaħaq qbil bejn l-MUT u l-Ministeru li l-klawżoli l-ġodda li jikkonċernaw il-warrant u l-liċenzja marbutin mat-taħriġ u profiċjenza jitneħħew.
Intlaħaq ukoll qbil fil-prinċipju dwar emendi fil-klawżoli dwar il-kwalifiċi, il-homeschooling, il-liċenzji tal-iskejjel, l-istruttura tal-bordijiet, il-ġbir tal-informazzjoni u s-sigurtà. Dawn l-issues kienu kollha elenkati mill-MUT kmieni din il-ġimgħa. L-MUT issoktat ukoll u sar pjan bi qbil mal-Ministeru sabiex l-affarijiet pendenti bejn il-Ministeru u l-Union jiġu indirizzati. B’hekk l-issues li għandhom l-edukaturi bħalissa jibdew jiġu solvuti. Aktar informazzjoni dwar dan ser tingħata lill-membri fil-jiem li ġejjin.
Fid-dawl ta’ dan kollu, l-MUT qed tirtira t-tilwima industrijali u tissospendi l-azzjoni li kienet imsejħa għal nhar it-Tnejn 8 ta’ Ottubru 2018. L-MUT tirriserva d-dritt li terġa tieħu azzjonijiet meħtieġa jekk dan l-att jew oħrajn jitressqu mingħajr konsultazzjoni mal-Union. L-MUT tixtieq turi l-apprezzament tagħha lejn il-membri li permezz tal-għaqda u determinazzjoni tagħhom inkiseb dan ir-riżultat.”
Statement by Government
L-istrike mhux se jsir – rebaħ kulħadd
Dalgħodu saret laqgħa ta’ xogħol bejn il-Ministeru għall-Edukazzjoni u x-Xogħol u l-Malta Union of Teachers, li fiha ġew diskussi temi importanti rigward l-edukazzjoni.
Iż-żewġ partijiet iddiskutew it-triq ’il quddiem u fiż-żmien li ġej se ssir il-ħidma relata ma’ dawn it-temi importanti. Dan hu pass li fih rebaħ kulħadd.
Abbażi ta’ dan, l-istrike ta’ nhar it-Tnejn 8 ta’Ottubru, mhux se jsir. Inħarsu ’l quddiem għal paġna ġdida ta’ ħidma favur it-tfal, l-edukaturi, il-ġenituri u l-pajjiż.
Nhar it-Tnejn se tkun ġurnata normali ta’ skola.
Earlier:
The President of the Malta Union of Teachers said that the MUT was to meet on Saturday morning to take a decision about whether to go on with the planned strike for Monday. TVMquotes the MUT President speaking during Friday’s edition of TV show Xarabank.
Earlier Education Minister Evarist Bartolo has withdrawn the controversial Education Bill in a formal letter to the Parliamentary Speaker Anglu Farrugia ahead of the proposed MUT strike this coming Monday. “This is the first time this has ever happened in parliamentary history,” Bartolo said highlighting the government’s willingness to reach a compromise with the MUT.
The Malta Independent reports: Speaking to the press at a meeting within the ministry, Bartolo said that MUT President Marco Bonnici has been informed of the decision, in what the minister described as a final appeal to stop the strike going forward. He revealed that MUT made it clear that this was their demand, and that the ministry’s offer to withdraw the bill in a meeting earlier today did not persuade the union to go back on its decision. Bartolo appealed for calm and condemned any negative comments directed towards educators on social media. “The government will respect and defend educators whether or not they decide to strike,” Bartolo said.
The Timesreports that parents will be given a “logistical solution” for their children this weekend, ahead of a planned nationwide teachers’ strike on Monday, government sources said yesterday.
Earlier the Malta Union of Teachers stormed out of a mediation meeting with the education authorities on Friday, moments after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told reporters that the government was prepared to withdraw a controversial legislative reform of the Education Act. Educators’ unions have come out strongly against a proposal to introduce an element of continuous assessment into the teachers’ warrant system, saying the changes would mean the warrant would no longer be permanent.The authorities have denied this is the case. MUT president Marco Bonnici said it was “unacceptable” that the Prime Minister had disclosed what was being discussed during a conciliation meeting just after it had first been raised behind closed doors.
