Updated at 4.45pm with ministry statement
Amendments to the Education Act presented to parliament without consultation will put teachers and the teaching profession under siege, the Malta Union of Teachers charged on Tuesday.
The union said it was strongly against various parts of the bill, not least a clause which will revoke all 'permanent' teaching warrants and replace them by new warrants which will be renewed on the basis of continuous professional development and a proficiency test.
"The MUT strongly objects and considers this as the first attack on the profession since teachers were given their professional status in 1988," the union said.
The requirement of ongoing training was unnecessary since current agreements already provided for it, it said.
Its objections to the Act prompted the Education Ministry to promptly invite the union to further discuss the changes - an offer the MUT accepted (see below).
Marco Bonnici, MUT president, said the bill also failed to clearly outline the requirements for eligibility for the warrant for teachers and learning support assistants.
The union was also concerned about clauses regulating home-schooling. Those educating children at home would not need to be qualified and hold a warrant to teach, the union said.
People who wish to hide any abuse on their children can easily do so by not sending them to school and claiming that they are being home schooled, under the guise of this new law, the union warned.
"The government is conceding an important principle by giving little hope that the responsible 'teacher' will be qualified," the union said.
On other points, the union said provisions on penalties for those who assaulted teachers or other educators were inadequate, and the government also needed to prevent assaults in the first place by engaging security officers in schools.
It also referred to the collection of data on students and said this should be as limited as possible and reflect the provisions of the Data Protection Act.
Mr Bonnici also expressed concern about a clause making the head of school personally responsible for the school licence. Heads of schools should not be held responsible in this manner, he said, more so as heads of state schools had limited control over what took place, including engagement, finances, resources and curriculum.
The union also reiterated its criticism of two boards provided for in the new law - the governing board and the administrative board. The setting up of the new boards had caused controversy after it emerged that one of the boards would take over strategic planning from the university rector.
The union did not rule out industrial action over the provisions of the new bill, but insisted it was still at “a stage where it was raising its concerns”.
Ministry offers further talks
In a statement reacting to the MUT's objections, the Education Ministry said that it would happily sit down with the union to further discuss the changes and fine-tune as needed.
"Consultation was a key part of many important changes to education systems over the past years, and will continue to be so," the ministry said.
The MUT accepted its offer of further talks, the ministry added.