A meeting between the Malta Union of Teachers and government on Monday to improve teachers’ wages and avert a planned strike was inconclusive, a union head said. 

MUT’s head Marco Bonnici said that the government had agreed that teachers’ financial package needs to be improved.

“The meeting was short and inconclusive, and another one shall be held at the end of the week,” he said. 

"From our end, we made it clear that we want a better financial package. From the government's end, they agreed that it needs to be improved, but how this will happen needs to be discussed."

Both sides are expected to meet for a second time towards the end of this week. 

The three-person conciliation team tasked with mediating between the union and government is chaired by former PN candidate Roselyn Borg Knight, who leads the Employment Relations Board.

Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister Joyce Cassar represented the government during Monday's brief meeting. 

Teachers and other educators are following MUT directives that came into force on Monday, with the union having ordered its members to strike on November 27 in protest. 

Educators are not carrying out class assessments, submitting attendance sheets or taking part in meetings with parents among other things.

In a brief statement issued on Monday afternoon, the MUT said that its members had shown "overwhelming support" for the directives put into place. 

The directives - and plan to strike on November 27 - are a result of a failure to agree on a revised collective agreement for educators in state and church schools. 

The MUT said the government had made two "insulting" offers. Education Minister Clifton Grima said talks to reach an agreement would continue. 

A smaller education-focused union, the Union of Professional Educators, has declined to endorse the directives and strike order, saying the MUT is grandstanding and not being honest with its members.