MUT calls on government to postpone physical reopening of schools

The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) has called on the government to postpone the date when schools will reopen for physical lessons.

Kindergarten, primary and secondary schools are set to reopen on 28 September.

Over the past two weeks, the Education Ministry released the much awaited COVID-19 guidelines for all educational institutions, including kindergarten, primary and secondary, as well as post-secondary.

On Wednesday, the MUT held a press conference in which it shared its thoughts and concerns about them and the current COVID-19 situation.

“The situation is not great as you may have realised, which is why we are taking this stand. However, this is not our final stand as we will continue communicating with the ministry depending on how the situation develops,” MUT President Marco Bonnici said.

Bonnici added that the MUT has always declared that there are two elements that will determine their stand about the reopening of schools. Starting with the pandemic and the r-factor, “you know it is getting worse each day and the r-factor will shoot up for sure.”

“Secondly, the protocols, which were published too late,” Bonnici said.

Bonnici said that teachers are getting stuck at every step of implementation phase. The 1.5m distance between desks is a core issue, as there are desks being placed facing the wall straight on – “can you imagine a student looking at a wall throughout the whole lesson.”

He added that the Education Ministry is not providing any answers on this issue and on any other questions the MUT has. This, he said, is causing a sense of panic.

Furthermore, the call for supervisors came out on Tuesday, which means that the government has no idea how many personnel it will have to ensure that guidelines are abided by, Bonnici said.

“On top of this, the curriculum has taken a backseat to this situation as the focus has been on these guidelines.”

In light of all these factors the MUT decided to tell the government to postpone the reopening of educational institutions at all levels and opt for online lessons.

“We do not think that we have enough time to address our concerns, especially with the rise in new cases.”

The MUT also called on the government to implement a compliance certification requirement for every institution to ensure that the guidelines are abided by once schools reopen.

On a concluding note, Bonnici reiterated that this is the position that the MUT is taking in the current situation, but said that this can always change in the future.

Asked if he thinks that having lessons online will increase the risk of children falling off the radar, he said that physical lessons will always remain the best option with online lessons being a back-up, which is what is needed at the moment.

UPE calls for online lessons

The other teachers’ union, the Union of Professional Educators – Voice of the Workers, has called on Prime Minister Robert Abela to consider online lessons for the reopening of schools.

In a statement on Wednesday, the UPE said that it is concerned at the increased numbers of COVID-19 positive cases.

“The situation is unsustainable and with the opening of schools, the number of cases will definitely increase to unsustainable numbers, thus putting a burden on our health care system,” the UPE said in a statement.

“The Union is therefore requesting officially the Prime Minister to consider the closure of physical attendance in schools, and to revert to online lessons as proposed by the UPE last August.”

The Union said that it reserves the right to issue industrial action if this request is denied within the coming days.