Updated at 6.50pm with PN statement
The teachers’ union has warned it will register an industrial dispute with the Education Ministry over a decision to centralise printing at State schools.
The decision was made after the ministry decided to enforce a circular issued by the Office of the Prime Minister in 1995 laying down that all printing by government departments must be done at the State printing press.
The Malta Union of Teachers said this meant members would now have to use the government printing press for every single sheet they wanted printed. It was a known fact that the government printing press offered an “inferior product”, yet despite its “huge deficiencies”, the product was deemed good enough for teachers and students, it added.
The union said whoever came up with the idea of tying teachers’ hands in such a manner clearly had no idea of the real needs of schools. The proposed system would be a huge burden on educators, particularly on those who personalised their lessons according to the abilities of students.
Students who require individual attention will suffer the most
Centralised printing would mean teachers could only use material that had been ordered and prepared days before the actual lesson, the MUT remarked
Students who required individual attention would suffer the most as a result, it warned.
Even during the project’s pilot phase, the printing press failed to keep up with demand from the small number of State schools involved. Teachers experienced delays and were given mediocre work, the union noted, adding that the new system could even run the risk of teachers not receiving the required material prior to the lessons.
It also pointed out that teachers would not be in contact with the people printing the material and thus would have no idea of the final product delivered.
Objections by educators were ignored, in what the MUT dubbed another case of a pilot project not being properly evaluated.
The Sunday Times of Malta reported in April the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, netted €287,000 through his company Kasco from the supply of paper and machinery to the government printing press.
A government spokesman told the Times of Malta that any potential bids by Mr Schembri’s company to supply photocopy paper to the government printing press would be subject to “an open and transparent tendering process”.
PD statement
In a statement, Partit Demokratiku said this issue left no room for teachers to adapt a prepared lesson according to particular needs that could crop up suddenly since the scanned copies of what teachers required had to be handed in three days in advance.
This ran contrary to the need to empower educators and reflected a lack of trust in educators serving to exacerbate the teaching crisis.
There was also the issue of increased traffic on already congested roads while these photocopies were being delivered.
PN backs complaints
The Nationalist Party opposition backed MUT complaints, saying the decision to centralise printing would benefit the few at the expense of the many.
It said that this focus on centralising power to benefit of a minority echoed the Labour Party's move to weaken local councils.
"Centralisation creates inefficiencies," the PN said. "Students and teachers are far better off when decisions are taken by those close to who they are meant to serve," it added, saying the government's centralisation plans would only benefit "the Prime Minister's right-hand man."