Efforts to address the shortage of teachers are starting to bear fruit as last year the number of kindergarten educators and teachers recruited reached a seven-year high at 267, the education minister said.
Replying to questions from Times of Malta, Owen Bonnici pointed out that in 2019, 162 teachers and 105 kindergarten educators had been engaged by the Education Ministry which was almost double the total for 2013 which stood at 157.
Dr Bonnici was asked to outline the government’s plans on this matter in the wake of his own comments shortly after his appointment as education minister last month.
“It’s useless having the most beautiful schools, investing millions and gilding them if you do not have educators in them,” the minister had said during a school visit.
While the teaching profession has been in decline for years as it is no longer deemed as an attractive career, the shortage has been compounded by the sudden spike in the population, mostly as a result of an increase in foreigners living in Malta.
As a matter of fact, the largest increase is at pre-school and kindergarten levels where space to accommodate all new entrants is becoming an issue, especially in localities like St Paul’s Bay.
Faced by an acute shortage, the government last year had even explored the possibility of importing foreign teachers as a short-term measure. However, the idea was abandoned in the wake of the outcry by the teachers’ unions.
Subsequently, the Education Ministry and the Malta Union of Teachers joined forces to launch a study into the state of the teaching profession, the reasons for the decline in numbers, and recommendations to reverse this trend.
Conducted by Mark Borg from the University’s Faculty of Education, the study was scheduled to be completed by April.
Asked about the government’s plan to address this shortage, Dr Bonnici said that having good, motivated and well-trained teachers, learning support educators and kindergarten educators was crucial.
He noted that the 2017 sectorial agreement for teachers had been a step in the right direction as it brought about better conditions of work. These included increasing non-contact time for primary school teachers in order to focus more on preparation and planning, decreasing the maximum number of students per class up to Form 2, and an upward revision in allowances to all teaching grades, he said.
Dr Bonnici also cited the introduction of a rolling public call for teachers to join the public service, so that people wishing to join the teaching profession could apply throughout the year rather than during a specific period only.
A third measure which was undertaken last year was to offer a “special package” to attract former teachers back to the profession, the education minister said.
Furthermore, he said that interviews were being carried out among educators who were resigning to understand the reasons behind their departure.
Dr Bonnici also referred to the establishment of the Institute for Education in 2017 which he said was being successful in providing various avenues for advancement for educational professionals.