‘PN only entity who enjoyed division between state and MUT’ - PM

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat heavily criticised the Nationalist’s Party’s credibility, describing it as the “only single entity who enjoyed the division between the state and educators” during last week’s conflict between the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) and the administration.

Echoing Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, who spoke before Muscat, the prime minister said that the willingness of the government to withdraw the bill “displayed the mentality of the current administration to sit down, discuss, and find solutions.”

“If the strike were taking place tomorrow, I can guarantee you that the discourse would be the same,” Muscat said.

A strike was called by MUT in objection to proposed amendments to the Education Act, which it said would affect teachers’ professional status.

Both the prime minister and education minister have said that they believe the issues stemmed from “misinterpretation” of the amendments, insisting that the legislation would not cancel warrants or stipulate that teachers must apply for warrants each year, and that the MUT agreed with the concept of the continuous professional development of educators, which they were already obliged to do.

During his address, Minister Bartolo appealed for more respect towards teachers following last week.

Muscat said that the government would now sit down with MUT to clarify the proposals to ensure that there was agreement among the stakeholders most invested in the legislation.

Ultimately, he said, it was both the intention of the government and the MUT to improve the situation of teachers, parents and, most importantly, students.

In contrast, he said, the Opposition was the ‘sole entity’ with a ‘negative outlook’ towards the situation, claiming that the PN was “enjoying the division between teachers and state.”

“The Opposition has no credibility when it comes to criticising,” Muscat said, insisting that it was his government which was committed to improving the education sector through collective agreements and other initiatives.

Using this as a springboard to criticise the PN’s credibility, Muscat referred to a recent, unrelated NAO report into the Malta National Aquarium.

“The [last Nationalist] government gave away land valued at €15 million to private investors,” he said.

“How can you preach about good governance and land valuation when you never cared about it when you were governing?” Muscat added, stressing that this did not mean he would compare his government to the standard of others, evidenced by the administration’s commitment to improving the situation for everyone.

Moving on to the current approach the government is taking towards the nascent block chain sector, Muscat said that the industry would be more resilient than the online gambling industry, which was dependent upon the country’s fiscally competitive tax system.

He added that the government would also pursue a “positivist” attitude when it came to artificial intelligence, explaining that it was important to regulate and be at the forefront of growing technologies.

“We always look the future,” he said, stressing the importance of the upcoming MEP and local council elections as crucial fora which affect the lives of every individual.