Educator’s freedom

“Inclusive institutions are not created by well-meaning elites but by people who fight for their rights,” claims James Robinson who won a Nobel Prize for Economics in October.

Robinson is a political scientist and economist and is the co-author, with Daron Acemoglu, of Why Nations Fail and The Narrow Corridor where he discusses how to build the type of institutions that create wealth and prosperity.

Educators’ freedom of expression is crucial for society at large. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Spending much time in South America and Africa he claims that the disparity between rich nations and the rest of the world is an outcome of their political and institutional systems. Notably, in how opportunities and incentives are created and given in wealthy nations. His work has focused in showing how these different institutional structures create all the prosperity in wealthy nations.

Democracy, as opposed to autocracy, is also a feature of wealthy nations where a more inclusive society based on the rule of law , transparency and accountability contribute to a more dynamic society.

Freedom of speech and freedom of movement are taken for granted in democratic countries, however, this is far from the case in countries which have illiberal forms of government or autocracies.

Does the directive where teachers must get written permission before speaking to the media after briefing their bosses about what they intend to talk about make sense in a democratic country? This is a clear infringement on a professional body and its freedoms of expression and has prompted concerns about self-censorship when Malta’s constitution and law provide for freedom of expression.

In her groundbreaking book Autocracy Inc., the American writer Anne Applebaum describes how, in the 21 st century, authoritarian states are not just run by ‘one bad guy’ but by sophisticated networks relying on kleptocratic financial structures, security services and technological expense which they are more than willing to give to their fellow autocratic friends. In essence, autocracies are a global phenomenon whose aim is to protect and enhance their own wealth and power.

Autocratic governments have led to the ‘Maduro effect’ where autocrats are willing to accept economic collapse, endemic violence, isolation and mass poverty in the countries they govern so long as they stay in power. There is therefore a direct correlation between mass poverty and dysfunctional institutions which have been disabled or corrupted by a ruling elite.

Autocrats today are focused more on self-enrichment and power then on creating prosperity and well-being of citizens. Repressing educators’ freedom of expression is certainly not beneficial for society at large and will not contribute to raising the next generation in an open and transparent environment.

In the 1980s, the Labour administration in Malta passed a law against foreign interference because German and Italian Christian Democrats began raising issues about Malta on an international level. The Foreign Interference Act was passed, thereby prohibiting the activities of foreign organisations speaking about matters considered to be interference.

The directive aimed at controlling Malta’s teachers’ freedom of expression does not conform to the democratic values of a European country and the sooner it is re-evaluated the better.

MADELEINE GERA – Valletta

ID card details not respected at Paola clinic

Primary healthcare rules stipulate that patients over 75 calling at polyclinics for medical attention are given preference over all other patients. However, at the Paola polyclinic, if a patient’s ID card does not display 75+ the person is ignored and left to wait until it is their turn, irrespective of the date of birth indicated on the ID card.

An ID card is an official identity document, like a passport, proving a person’s identity with all the relevant details. It should therefore be enough to prove that somebody is aged 75+.

FRANCIS FARRUGIA – Paola