MUT warns of mass redundancies caused by Church school expansion
Raphael Vassallo The Malta Union of Teachers has expressed concern about a possible migration of teachers from State to Church schools, as well as mass redundancies in the primary sectors as private schools are forced to close down altogether, as a result of the agreement struck last week between the government and the Church.
“It is now a state of fact that the Church in Malta is to expand its schools over the next three years. The Church has a right to build its own schools, but then it is the State’s responsibility to ensure that that Education is a public service and not a commodity,” MUT secretary-general John Bencini told MaltaToday.
“Considering that the government is responsible for paying salaries of all teaching grades in Church schools, one may easily say that we are moving towards a public-private partnership in education.”
According to the MUT, such partnerships entail potential negative consequences for access to public education, as well as its quality and democratic control.
“Public-private partnership may be appealing when initiated as a means of supplementing scarce or non-existent public financial resources, which is not the case in Malta. But at the same time, they carry with them the risk of reductions in governments’ investment in public education services, and may promote the privatisation and the commercialisation of education.”
According to Bencini, the provision of public education is the responsibility of public authorities, which – unlike all private institutions, including the Church – are accountable to the community through democratic governance structures, mandating them to determine education policy and principles, and the regulatory framework within which education institutions operate.
The MUT secretary also warns that the last week’s agreement, which will result in government financing four new Church schools, will most likely come with a price-tag far heftier than the declared cost of €7.5 million over 10 years.
“This new situation will probably have very negative effects on private schools, as these do not benefit from State subsidy,” he told MaltaToday. “They will find it very hard to compete and some might close down. The number of Teaching Grades employed by the government will definitely decrease. Fewer State schools will mean fewer teaching staff and possible redundancies from State Primary School are not excluded.”
So far, however, public pronouncements by both the government (which hails this development as a “historic step” for Maltese education) and the Church have chosen to focus only on the proposed changes to the admissions system for Church schools.
Education Minister Dolores Cristina said on Wednesday that the agreement between Church and State on this issue revolved around the abolition of the controversial Common Entrance Examinations.
Cristina also admitted that this agreement was the fruit of a year’s worth of intensive discussions between Church and State – to the apparent exclusion of all other stakeholders in the education sector, including the teacher’s union.
“The MUT is informed that talks have been going on between Government and Church officials and that apparently, decisions have already been taken,” Bencini said. “The MUT is a stakeholder in education, and it is therefore very strange that the union has been kept completely in the dark.
Bencini also questions the rationale behind the State’s apparent investment in Church schools, to the detriment of its own: which unlike the former, provide all aspects of education at no cost to the parent.
“Are Church schools in Malta completely free? Ask any parent in Malta who sends his or her children to a Church school and they will give the correct answer. Children in Church schools have to pay for their books year-in, year-out. Parents are encouraged to give donations, as Church schools are to make sure their schools offer the best facilities including laboratories, etc. The children in Church schools have to pay hefty fees for transport. So, let’s face it. Church schools are not exactly free of charge.”
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