April 6, 2017 at 10:13 am
MUT issues reaction to news report on situation at Ħamrun Senior School (ex Liceo)
Reply to a news report published on the Times on Wednesday 5th April entitled “Problems at Ħamrun school similar to those at other schools”.
The MUT is rather relieved that finally the Ministry for Education and Employment (MEDE) and the San Ġorġ Preca College have understood what the Union has been saying all along, i.e. that a minority of students are ruining the teaching and learning experience for the rest of the school. The Union augurs that in future incidences the MEDE will not need to wait for the Union to issue directives before implementing proper effective measures. The claim that plans were in place before the Union issued directives cannot be believed because the situation at the school has been in discussion for the past 6 months and there was ample time for the MEDE and the school to implement its plans had they really planned them. Things only started moving when the MUT intervened as all educators in this school can testify.
The MUT is also relieved that finally the MEDE is realising that the many reforms imposed over the past years are taking their toll on educators. The Union however believes that blaming the degeneration of a school on teachers’ fatigue is highly inaccurate and is just another typical exercise of finding a scapegoat to blame for a disaster that was engineered by incompetent management at Directorate and College level.
Last but not least, the Union wants to thank the incoming Director General for intervening in a situation where the school was largely abandoned by all over the past years except for the MUT. The MUT augurs that in the future the Union’s reports and warnings are heeded much before the situation degenerates. The Union notes that it has already alerted the MEDE about volatile situation in three other schools, which as yet have not been properly addressed.
