The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) is celebrating the World Teachers’ Day, which is held annually on 5th October. The theme chosen for this year is “Unite for Quality Education,” which is in line with the stand taken by Education International and the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE).

The event held today at the MUT offices in Valletta was addressed by Evarist Bartolo, Minister for Education and Employment, and by the MUT President Mr Kevin Bonello.

The Minister during his intervention stated that more investment is important but just as much is making full use of the resources currently available. He said that teachers play a very crucial role in the development of education and thanked them on World Teachers Day for their efforts and dedication.

During his address, the Mr. Bonello noted that the human resource is the only resource available to Malta and this makes each and every student important for the country’s future, even more so in the declining birth rates Malta is facing. “Thus a lot of investment has been done in the educational sector to improve quality education, something which needs to continue to be done.”

According to Mr. Bonello, teachers must also be allowed more professional flexibility to adapt to the situation of their classrooms to their students’ needs. “Curricula and syllabi need to be more flexible, for example, to allow teachers to focus on the highest priorities for the students.”

“Heads of schools, on the other hand, must be given more support to be able to lighten their bureaucratic load enabling them to focus more on curricular matters within their own schools. Educators and Senior Management Team (SMT) members need more support in disciplinary matters as unfortunately many times they feel abandoned,” he said.

According to MUT, more investment and strategies need to be placed and designed on the role of families and society at large in educating children. Up to 70% of child formation comes from informal and non formal learning that children are exposed to at homes and within their communities. “If this 70% is not being addressed properly, the education system will never be able to address the issue of early school leaving.”

“Furthermore, all educators need to be treated like professionals and attitudes towards them must change. The MUT is appreciative that the current Government has taken up the MUT’s idea to launch a campaign to promote educators’ role within society and, in fact, various steps have been taken by politicians to this effect. The Union believes that the time is ripe for such a campaign to take place, especially now that the country is at an evolving stage and has matured significantly over the past years,” the Union said.

The MUT also commented on the international education scene, most notably on the precarious situation in Greece where hundreds of educators are being threatened with their jobs on a daily basis. “The MUT is fully supportive of the Education International’s Campaign to include Education as a human right.”

The World Teachers’ Day, held annually on October 5th since 1994, commemorates teachers’ organisations worldwide with the aim to mobilise support for teachers and to ensure that the needs of future generations will continue to be met by teachers.

Permalink: The Malta Union of Teachers celebrates the World Teachers’ Day