The government and the teachers’ union on Monday shook hands on the final version of the educators’ sectoral agreement after a year and a half of negotiations and a brief strike.

Both the government and the Malta Union of Teachers said the agreement will improve salaries and working conditions of more than 11,000 educators in state schools.

Agreements for church and independent schools are yet to be concluded.

The last five-year agreement lapsed two years ago and educators will be paid the increases in their allowance in arrears.

The government and the MUT had first reached an agreement in May, but went back to the negotiating table after union members expressed dissatisfaction with the conditions on offer.

A new version drew support from 92 per cent of the union membership last week. 

Negotiations in the preceding 18 months were not short of controversy and reached a boiling point in November when a one-day strike was held. The MUT came short of ordering further industrial action last Spring.  

“It was a challenging period and we had to resort to industrial action, but thankfully that didn’t hinder the progress of negotiations,” MUT president Marco Bonnici said in a press conference before the signing.

“The aim of negotiations was always to improve teachers’ working conditions which would, in turn, provide a better educational experience for our children.”

He thanked all those involved in the negotiations and said this was the beginning of a new process to meticulously implement the agreement and conclude the agreement for church and independent schools.

Education Minister Clifton Grima described the agreement “the best result ever achieved” and said that despite the challenges and hurdles along the way, everyone kept respect for educators at the centre of negotiations.

“We managed to turn several obstacles into opportunities for educators,” he said. 

“We all wanted to see the conditions of our educators improved.”

The Labour Party had promised teachers a substantial raise and better conditions before the last general election, and on Monday, Prime Minister Robert Abela said this agreement marked yet another fulfilled promise.

“There is no future without good education and this week couldn’t have started out better,” he said.

“Teachers have a profession, a vocation, that is one of the most important in our country. They are shaping the future of our children and instilling in them the values for life and our future families.”

He did not specify how much the agreement would cost the government but said it is an investment of hundreds of millions of euros.

An incentive to attract people to teaching profession

Despite the investment, however, Malta continues to face a shortage of teachers and Maltese teenagers continue to rank poorly in maths, reading and science, among other subjects.

Asked about this, Abela said the new sectoral agreement was also aimed at serving as an incentive for more young people to choose the teaching profession, like the government did with the nursing profession.

“I’m not as pessimistic [about students’ performance]. We must continue to improve our education system and maximise our children’s potential,” he said.

“We also have many young people taking up STEM subjects and immediately finding high-quality jobs in the many thriving industries in our country.”