The new academic year will be more focused on students’ wellbeing than it has ever been, Education Minister Clifton Grima said on Wednesday. 

Some 52,000 students returned to schools this week, along with some 11,200 educators. 

Visiting a number of schools on Wednesday, Grima said it was time for students to once again embark on their education journey. 

“More than ever before, this journey will be increasingly focused on the well-being of both students and educators,” he said. 

“This is because we believe our education system must support people’s development while keeping their humanity at the heart of it all.” 

'Secrecy around collective agreement causing problems' 

Graham Sansone, head of the Union for Professional Educators, said the fact that the new collective agreement signed between the Education Ministry and the MUT had not yet been made public was giving rise to anomalies that were frustrating teachers. 

“The discussion of these anomalies under lots of secrecy has given way to delays that see teachers failing to benefit from certain benefits they should benefit from as per the new agreement,” he said. 

“School management is also being kept in the dark about special leave and allowance and who exactly is entitled to it.”

Sansone also noted that while the complement of teachers has been satisfied accordingly, teachers have been given a maximum workload, particularly in middle and secondary schools.

He also said it was positive to note that the Msida primary school had finally been completed as the model for all future schools, despite the project having been promised in 2013.

'Educators must remember to prioritise love'

In his address to teachers ahead of the start of the school year, Malta Union of Teachers President Marco Bonnici said the profession should prioritise love, reminding educators of the joy of loving their work, themselves, each other and their students. 

He said it was a joy to meet educators who spoke passionately about their subject and about sharing their love with others.

On the other hand, educators who suffered injustice often lost the love they had for teaching which weighed down their work

Bonnici said the profession was blessed with altruistic people who gave all they had to serve others. However, they must also remember to love and take care of themselves as well as others, even if this required seeking professional help. 

Professionals should also remember to love and respect each other and refrain from engaging in petty rivalries, jealousy, suspicion and other aspects that can harm workplaces and poison relationships, he said. 

Ultimately, Bonnici said it was always important to remember the love teachers had for their students, which kept the profession going. 

For most students, school was becoming the point of reference on which they modelled their behaviour, and therefore, educators should be sensitive towards the role they played in their pupils’ lives. 

“Human contact is decreasing and some are not bothering to look for it,” Bonnici said. 

“But we have an obligation to keep up human contact with our students and give them what no electronic equipment can give them: love.”