|
|
| ____________________ |
|
Administrator:
Frank
N. Mallia
Email:
webmaster@mut.org.mt
|
|
|
Last
Update:
Wednesday 15/02 14.37
____________________
|
|
_________________________________________________________________
Directives:
_________________________________________________________________
15th
February 2012
SMT
in state schools are reminded that the directive
issued on the 11th January 2012 is still in force.
Details follow:
Request
to SMT by MITA
The
Union has been informed that SMT in state schools
are being requested by MITA to check and confirm
location and codes of Interactive Whiteboards and
Projectors. Members of the SMT are directed to refrain
from providing this information until the Union
reaches an agreement about the matter with Directorates.
MUT
Central Administration
_________________________________________________________________
15th
November 2011
Directive
to ALL Learning Support Assistants
The
MUT is highly concerned about a situation that has
risen in a particular primary school whereby an
LSA with many years of experience has been implicated
in allegations of abuse while being in the resource
room as part of a daily class withdrawal programme
as stipulated by the IEP of the child. The LSA in
question was not even informed by her Head of School
about the allegations put forward by the parent
and consequently she ended up arrested by the police
without prior notice.
Due
to this development the MUT is hereby directing
all its members to immediately refrain from withdrawing
the children under their care from the classroom
UNLESS they are sure that in the resource room,
or the withdrawal area, at least another responsible
adult is present. The MUT suggests that LSAs should
team up for withdrawal sessions, if this is not
possible, withdrawals from classes are NOT to be
done.
MUT
Central Administration
_________________________________________________________________
12th
December 2011
Reference
is made to the Job Exposure Directive issued earlier
this year by the MUT,
reproduced below for ease of reference.
In
view of the fact that issues identified by the Union
have still not been adequately
addressed, the Union solicits all teaching grades (including
SMT members, teachers,
guidance teachers, LSAs etc.) not to undertake any duties
related thereto in order
to safeguard their professional integrity and the well-being
of the students concerned.
Directive: Work Practice Placements/Job Exposure
The
MUT has been informed that in the coming weeks various
secondary
school students will be involved in work practice placements.
While the
Union has no objection to the idea of exposing young
people to jobs as part
of their career guidance formation, the Union would
like to note the
following points:
a) There is no agreement between the Authorities concerned
and the MUT
about a legal framework that covers teachers, student
services professional
staff and LSAs that participate in such activities -
it is not known who
will be held responsible in case of accidents.
b) The primary objective of teachers and of LSAs is
to teach, and in the
case of the latter, to facilitate teaching.
c) Students are reportedly asked to work for free in
these placements
without any sort of compensation, making any accompanying
educators
arguably accomplices to what may seem (as noted by some
members) to be an
abusive situation.
d) Moreover there seems to be no kind of framework that
protects these
students (most of them just 14 year olds) in case of
abuse from customers
and/or other third parties. (In this respect, and in
respect of the point
above, the MUT has written to the Commissioner for Children
to ask for her
opinion.)
Thus, and in view of the above, the Union would like
to make it absolutely
clear that its members are under no obligation and should
refrain from
accompanying students on work places during such events,
at least until
such time as the Government and the Union come to an
agreement over a legal
framework governing these issues.*
_________________________________________________________________
Replacement
of teachers on the school premises
The
Union has been informed that teachers in some schools
are being requested to undertake replacement of teachers
who are on the school premises. The Union would like to
clarify that this practice is not acceptable except for
extraordinary circumstances and should not be the norm
during preparation of extracurricular activities at school
or college level. The Union is directing members not to
undertake any replacement duties of teachers who are on
the premises and stresses that the curricular entitlement
of students must not be reduced due to extracurricular
activities being undertaken by schools or colleges.
General
Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
31st
August 2011
ATTENTION
ALL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS (HEADS, ACTING HEADS and ASSISTANT
HEADS) in Primary and Secondary Schools
The
MUT would like to draw the attention of all its members
within school administration teaching grades (mentioned
above) that the directive regarding PQ's issued in 2010
still holds. It is unacceptable that during the summer
holiday period school administrators are being asked to
provide details that have already been provided through
various audited accounts to the Directorate.
In
view of the situation, together with the chronic lack
of human resources in administrative staff, added to the
doubling of unnecessary work, the MUT is hereby directing
its members in all the grades mentioned to refrain from
replying to Parliamentary Questions forwarded to them
if they had already given such information requested in
various other official means, such as the Quarterly Returns,
the Inventory and so on.
The
Malta Union of Teachers would like to point out that it
is the Ministry's duty to ensure that data that had already
been collected from schools through various means can
be processed administratively and forwarded to the public
on request rather than the duty of School Administrators
and Education Officers to repeat such administrative work
on behalf of the Ministry.
MUT Central Administration
______________________________________________________________________________________
Directive
on School Alarm Systems: The MUT advises that the
Directive to SMT members concerning School Alarm Systems
is still in force. In this respect, SMT members are strongly
advised to follow the directive so as not to incur upon
them any responsibilities which are not consonant with
their grade.
Franklin Barbara
General Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
ATTENTION
ALL PERSONNEL WITHIN THE STUDENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT:
The
MUT has been notified that personnel within this department
are being asked to fill in PMP documents which are completely
different from the ones that have been discussed between
the Union and the Education Authorities.
Since:
a)
There is no agreement between the Union and the Government
about these particular documents
b) The persons involved are being asked to fill in the
PMP document retrospectively to three years ago
c) The PMP document itself has a grading system to which
the Union is diametrically opposed
ALL
MUT members within this department are directed to refrain
from filling in any document/s related to the PMP until
such time as the issues raised above are dealt with.
MUT
Central Administration
____________________________________________________
1
Carrying out interviews in relation to calls for supply
teachers when both the regular and supply teachers lists
have not been exhausted, save in cases of urgent recruitment
due to unforseen circumstances such as long sick-leave
etc.;
2
Undertake work of purely administrative or clerical
nature due to the lack of adequate support staff, such
as: handling of mail, collection of files and documents,
seeing to the cleaning and maintenance of offices/premises
etc.
Franklin
Barbara
General Secretary
____________________________________________________
|
-
Directive
on MATSEC Access Arrangements: The
MUT refers to the directive concerning MATSEC Access
Arrangements issued to SMT Members. The Union is informed
that other teaching grades are being pressurized to
undertake this duty.In
view of these circumstances, the Union is extending
this directive to all teaching grades, including INCOs
and trainee INCOs.This directive applies till such
time as a satisfactory agreement is reached with the
MATSEC Board and/or authorities concerned.Any instances
of undue pressure on SMT Members or other grades who
are abiding by this directive are to be reported immediately
to the Union. The Union will not tolerate such abusive
and illegal practices.
10th
May 2011
Franklin
Barbara
General Secretary
____________________________________________________
15th
April, 2011
-
DIRECTIVE
ON MATSEC ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS:
The
attention of the MUT has been drawn to forms issued
by the MATSEC Board entitled "Request for Examinations
Access Arrangements for Candidates with Specific Learning
Difficulties/ with ADD/ADHD" which Heads of School
are being expected to fill in respect of students having
such needs.
The
MUT would like to point out that there is no formal
arrangement
with the Education Authorities on this matter. Moreover,
these forms require
a certain degree of specialist knowledge outside the
competence and remit
of school administrators.
In
view of the above circumstances, the Union is directing
Heads of Schools,
Assistant Heads of School and SMT members to refrain
from filling in these
forms until the matter is resolved with the Education
Authorities.
Franklin
Barbara
General Secretary
____________________________________________________
11th
April 2011
-
Attention
ALL Primary School Teachers and Primary School SMT members:
The Union has been informed that many Primary School
teachers and SMT members in State and Church schools
are being asked to do clerical work related to fruit
distribution in their respective classes, ranging from
the filling of forms for every student every 3 months,
to filling of forms every day (apparently depending
on the school).
The MUT would like to point out that Primary School
Teachers and SMT members are not employed to keep track
of what fruit the children in their class are eating
and/or discarding. Thus the MUT is instructing ALL its
members to refrain from filling out any forms/papers/documents
related to distribution of fruit in schools. If the
Authorities concerned would like to carry out studies
of this nature they are encouraged to employ more clerical
staff in schools.
MUT
Central Administration
____________________________________________________
The
MUT would like to clarify that the directions issued
on the 6th of April entitled ATTENTION Teachers and
LSAs in Secondary Schools are also applicable to all
its members in all student services grades. Thus the
title of the same article has been changed to ATTENTION
Teachers, Student Support Service Professionals and
LSAs in Secondary Schools. The article was also amended
to reflect this change.
- ATTENTION
Teachers, Student Support Service Professionals and
LSAs in Secondary Schools.
The
MUT has been informed that in the coming weeks various
secondary school students will be involved in work practice
placements. While the Union has no objection to the
idea of exposing young people to jobs as part of their
career guidance formation, the Union would like to note
the following points:
a)
There is no agreement between the Authorities concerned
and the MUT about a legal framework that covers teachers,
student services professional staff and LSAs that participate
in such activities - it is not known who will be held
responsible in case of accidents.
b) The primary objective of teachers and of LSAs is
to teach, and in the case of the latter, to facilitate
teaching.
c) Students are reportedly asked to work for free in
these placements without any sort of compensation, making
any accompanying educators arguably accomplices to what
may seem (as noted by some members) to be an abusive
situation.
d) Moreover there seems to be no kind of framework that
protects these students (most of them just 14 year olds)
in case of abuse from customers and/or other third parties.
(In this respect, and in respect of the point above,
the MUT has written to the Commissioner for Children
to ask for her opinion.)
Thus,
and in view of the above, the Union would like to make
it absolutely clear that its members are under no obligation
and should refrain from accompanying students on work
places during such events, at least until such time
as the Government and the Union come to an agreement
over a legal framework governing these issues.
MUT
Central Administration
____________________________________________________
9th
March 2011
- Directive
to Heads of School (Update)
Further to the directive issued earlier today concerning
the inventory the MUT would like to add that Heads and Assistant
Heads are also to refrain from filling in the column concerning
the values of objects listed in the inventory.
-
Directive
to all Heads and Assistant Heads of School (State Schools):
The
MUT has been informed that school administrators have
been asked to fill in a new inventory form. Among other
things schools are being asked to give a price tag to
every single item in their school by giving it a value.
Heads and Assistant Heads are being asked to "evaluate"
all the objects in the inventory, give them all a purchasing
date, and a load of other details.
a)
Heads of School and Assistant Heads of School are not
employed as evaluators
b) Heads and Assistant Heads are not employed to keep
government archives
c) Many schools are not adequately staffed to perform
such duties
The
MUT is directing all its members within the grades of
Head of School and Assistant Head of School to refrain
from filling in the following details on the inventory
form:
a)
The new section consisting of Serial/Part No. / Custodian/
Make / Brand Supplier / Obsolete or Missing / File Ref.
b) The column "date asset acquired"
These
directives will remain in force until such time as discussions
with the Union are held and a suitable way forward is
found.
MUT
Central Administration
____________________________________________________
MUT
Central Administration
____________________________________________________
Directive
to All Teaching Grades in Church Schools: UPDATE: Reference
the Directive in caption, attention is drawn to the fact
that the term teaching grades includes all personnel rendering
educational service in schools including: LSAs, KGAs, teachers,
Assistant Heads, Heads of School as defined in various agreements
of the Union.
Directive
to All Teaching Grades in Church Schools:
The
Union wishes to the draw the attention of all teaching
grades in Church Schools that there is no official arrangement
concerning the preparation of adapted examination papers.
In
view of these circumstances, the Union is directing all
teaching grades to refrain from making adapted examination
papers until an agreement is reached on the matter.
Franklin
Barbara
General Secretary
____________________________________________________
-
Directive
to Heads of Schools on Risk and Hazard Analysis
Reports
The
attention of the MUT has been drawn to the Risk
and Hazard Analysis Report which Heads of School
are required to compile as part of Health and Safety
Procedures.
The
Union notes that this Report includes a column entitled
"Action by When" in which Heads of School
have to specify target dates.
In
view of the fact that Heads of School do not have
their own maintenance staff and have to rely on
external support they cannot provide committed timeframes
for completion of work.
In
these circumstances, the MUT has no alternative
but to direct Heads of School not to fill in the
"Action by When" column.
Franklin
Barbara
General Secretary
____________________________________________________
-
DIRECTIVE
TO ALL SCHOOL COUNSELLORS: Since
the introduction of the College System in State
Schools, the work load of School Counsellors has
drastically increased. In spite of this, the School
Counsellors have laboured on to provide the best
possible service in the circumstances.
However, these working conditions are unacceptable
for both the School Counsellors and their clients.
In this respect, the College System is sacrificing
quality for quantity and this is neither professional
nor respectful towards the students and parents
who avail themselves of this service.
In the U.S. and in most E.U. Countries the average
student-counsellor ratio varies from a high of 1250
to a low of about 400.
In the circumstances and until such time as discussions
are held between the MUT and the Education Authorities,
Counsellors are directed:
(a) not to exceed a student/counsellor ratio of
1400:1.
(b) Not to offer counselling service in schools
where there are no proper amenities and facilities.
Franklin
Barbara
General
Secretary
____________________________________________________
|
|
|
|
|
Teachers'
Institute
213, Republic Street
Valletta, VLT 1118
Malta
Tel:
+356 21237815
Tel: +356 21222663
Fax:+356 21244074
Email:
info@mut.org.mt
_______________
President
Email:
president@mut.org.mt
Mobile:
+356
99458134
__________________
Vice
President
Email:
svpresident@mut.org.mt
Mobile:
__________________
General
Sec
Email:
gensec@mut.org.mt
Mobile:
+356
99488368
__________________
Office
Hours:
08:30
- 13:00
14.15
- 17.30
__________________
|
|
One
Union