Updated 5.30pm with PN statement 

Teachers must now get written permission before speaking to the media and have to tell their bosses what they intend to speak about.

The rule forms part of Circular DES 28.2024, sent out by the Education Ministry in late September, and applies to educators at all levels. 

According to the policy, educators who obtain permission to speak to the media must ensure that their comments reflect Education Ministry policies and objectives and refrain from promoting their personal opinions or making statements that might be perceived as politically biased. 

Any educator who breaches the policy will be referred to the department for educational services, for "review and ensuing action". 

The rules apply to all forms of media appearances - from TV shows to podcasts, written media and radio - related to educational matters. 

Authorities say the policy is important to maintain professional standards in education and safeguard the integrity of the educational system. 

But it has prompted concerns about self-censorship and restricting teachers' freedom of expression, as well as warnings that educators who are also politically active - in political parties, NGOs or other community initiatives - have been effectively muzzled. 

The directive effectively extends restrictions placed on civil servants - who are also forbidden from speaking to the media without permission - to teachers, academics and heads of schools across the country. 

Michelle Attard-Tonna, a faculty member at the University of Malta’s department of education, stressed that teachers, like other public sector workers such as doctors and architects, were already regulated by the Public Service Management Code (PSMC) - a code of behaviour for civil servants.  

"My question is if they [other professions] also received similar directives and if they think that such a directive makes sense in a democratic society,” she said.  

“If we want a level of ‘quality education’ - because that is the buzzword at the moment - then we cannot gag the mouth of the teachers; it’s one or the other.”

Teachers’ union UPE said on Friday that it wants the directive to be withdrawn.

The Union of Professional Educators said it has written to the director general of educational services, Ritianne Borg Saliba, to outline their concerns about the circular

Cassola: This is fascist

It has also asked the Education Ombudsman to investigate it, taking up a request made by independent candidate - and academic - Arnold Cassola. 

Cassola, who has branded the directive a "fascist" one, had a request for the Ombudsman to investigate it rebuffed, on grounds that he is not employed by the Department of Education - a prerequisite for such an investigation.

Shadow Education Minister Justin Schembri has also asked for the ombudsman to investigate.  

In a statement the PN said the circular "stifles the freedom of expression of every educator as an individual and citizen by stating that no educator may voice their personal ideas on the field of education and dictates what may be said".

Lawyer and former MP Jason Azzopardi has also been critical of the new rule, saying it effectively muzzles educators and that it suggests the government "is afraid of its own shadow."

The UPE said it has similar concerns about the directive, saying it breaches freedom of expression provisions in the constitution and would effectively work to create an atmosphere of self-censorship among educators, driving them to avoid speaking to the media for fear of reprimand.

“The restrictions imposed by the circular not only harm individual rights but also deprive society of the insights and expert opinions of educators, which are vital for informed public discourse,” the UPE said.

UPE encourages members to defy directive

Union chief Graham Sansone told Times of Malta that the restrictions were "unheard of". 

"Is the government saying union officials who work in schools can't speak? That educators involved in politics can't speak? That educators in NGOs have been silenced? 

"The circular makes it clear all these can't speak freely and say what they think," he said. 

The UPE has now instructed its members to actively assert their right to openly engage with the media, saying it would back them in opposing the circular. 

It has issued a directive to that effect. 

Il-Kolletiv: A cowardly measure

Activist group Il-Kolletiv also condemned the directive, saying it was “incomprehensible”.

“Its only aim is to silence the diversity of voices within education,” said NGO president Jeanette Borg.

The organisation noted a pattern of work to silence critical voices within the sector – from an ongoing dispute at MCAST to a controversy that erupted at University during freshers’ week.

“A state that silences its academia is a totalitarian, cowardly and paranoid one,” Borg said. “The minister has no right to silence teachers because he feels threatened by criticism.”