I am sure you are all aware of the recent saga concerning the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) and the new proposed Education Act which was presented to parliament and with which the MUT did not agree. The matters escalated to a point that a strike was planned for Monday 8thOctober, although this was eventually called off after further discussion, and the withdrawal of the proposed Act.
Throughout this debate I was following the discussions, comments and arguments on social media, and also constantly communicating with my teacher friends so as to get their reactions. As a teacher myself, I do have my personal opinion of this, as regards to what led to the MUT to call a strike and how it garnered the support of not just its members, but of the majority of the teaching population, but more of that later. For the moment, I want to focus on the way people were interpreting this situation, particularly those who are not teachers or do not have any relatives who are teachers.
Respect was the general plea of the teachers. For the last three days, as soon as news of the strike hit the headlines, a torrent of verbal abuse was hurled at teachers, even by the same parents whose children are taught, cared for, loved and nurtured by teachers. It was generally taken that teachers do not need to strike, that they misunderstood the Education Act and that this was a partisan, anti-PL move to create unrest in the country. Teachers found themselves explaining why they felt a strike was necessary, justifying their work, the need to maintain standards in teacher preparation and qualification, the amount of time they spend in non-contact hours for marking and preparation, and the amount of continuing professional development they attend regularly to remain abreast with educational developments. Every teacher and every educator in my newsfeed was expressing disappointment at the way they were being regarded and treated by society – essentially, it all boiled down to them creating a problem should they not turn up to work on Monday morning, and very little, if any, concern was being expressed at the real issue at hand. Many people did not even understand what the teachers were protesting about, or failed to understand, as explanations were aplenty.
There are two main conclusions that I make of this debacle. The first one is the confirmation of how our society’s perceptions are marred by partisan sentiments and anyone who dares to challenge the status quo or criticise the authorities is labelled as anti-government and ungrateful. The second is the need to educate society on what teachers do, on the importance of them receiving a high standard preparation and on how indispensable they are – not merely to babysit students but to build futures in younger generations.
Teachers lose, every time. The government and the MUT may have both won their case and we are now assured that the proposed bill must follow consultation with the relevant stakeholders and the problematic clauses which were interpreted as undermining teachers’ professionalism will not be included. However, these last three days have given rise to people showing their dissent towards teachers and their work, ironically a situation which teachers were protesting about. All teachers are asking for is respect, from the people they serve – they did not get it in this scenario and by the looks of it, they will not get it anytime soon. In my opinion, this is why many teachers were in favour of the proposed strike, because for the last (many) years they were feeling their professional status being continuously challenged, up to a point that going to school to teach was becoming a daily battle. I sincerely hope that we stop and reflect on this situation – how it is affecting teachers’ morale, their work, and potential individuals who may have been considering to choose this profession.
Dr Michelle Attard Tonna is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Education, University of Malta.
