A number of educators at St Albert the Great College have written an open letter in support of rector Aaron Zahra and headteacher Horace Gauci.

The letter comes as the college goes through a crisis following the dismissal of former headmaster Mario Mallia and the subsequent resignation of a quarter of the teaching staff.

In their letter, the educators said both Zahra and Gauci are competent persons who lead with great empathy, discipline and with consideration to the needs of employees, parents and students.

Gauci was appointed to replace Mallia, who was fired in July, a dismissal which he says came about due to his support of two inclusivity programmes at the Valletta church school.

But the school says the dismissal was spurred by Mallia's refusal to abide by the statute regulating the college and his insistence on making decisions without seeking approval from the college board.

The staff said in their letter that through summer they have been making preparations to offer their students a good education, and they wished to be allowed to do this without being intimidated or considered traitors by a small group of other educators at the college.

These educators, they said, were causing a lot of harm  and hoped that the education system at the school would collapse.

They even wanted to create chaos in a systematic manner by instigating students to write messages and stick them on the school walls, the educators charged.

They also noted that a number of staff members had waited for the scholastic year to start before submitting their resignations, playing a dangerous psychological game on students and their peers.

Although they had a right to resign, the harm they were causing was irreparable, especially for those students who were in their final year.

Their attitude had led to pique among different sectors at the school,   creating an "us and them" climate.

The educators said they said they were happy with the rector's leadership but could not speak about this openly because of fear of intimidation which was against the school ethos of "we welcome everyone".

"Our wish is to be allowed to work quietly and responsibly with all students, to create a happy environment for students in class. We also want to take care of our children and our job, which is being threatened daily because of the attitude of certain people.

"We love the school, so we wish to progress during this year together with children, parents, teachers, SLT members and the rector."

They said they believed they should not be involved in decisions taken by the board and the Dominican Province and wanted to continue to work with the rector and the college administration as they had always done in the past.

On Monday, the Malta Union of Teachers said a court had rejected a request by the college rector to ban further industrial action at the college.

Meanwhile, parents pleaded for the education minister and other authorities to intervene to implement a contingency plan for students and staff.