The Nationalist Party has expressed its “serious concern” over the number of teachers who resigned from their posts during the past academic year (2023-2024).

The PN, in a statement on Friday noted that according to information revealed in a parliamentary answer by the Education Minister, 124 teachers resigned from State schools during the past academic year, and of these, only 26 teachers remained in the profession by moving to Private or Church schools.

In answers to other Parliamentary Questions, the Government stated that for this academic year, 74 and 43 fully-qualified teachers have been employed to teach in State secondary and primary schools respectively. The PN said that this amounts to 117 new fully-qualified teachers.

It noted however that, the Government employed a total of 217 new teachers, “thereby confirming that it is still employing a substantial number of supply teachers. The Government does not provide information on whether it employed teachers who were already in the profession but working in Private or Church schools.”

The Nationalist Party stated that “it is clearly evident that despite the need for more fully-qualified teachers at all levels, and despite the fact that a number of new teachers are graduating every year, the Government is failing to retain a large number of teachers who are resigning each year.”

It stressed that “this is a worrying factor as the education sector cannot continue to lose professional teachers year after year due to continuous resignations.”

The PN called on the Government to conduct a serious study to identify the recurring cause of resignations in the education sector, “as behind every resignation, there is a serious reason.”

The statement was signed by Justin Schembri Shadow Minister for Education and Trades.

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