Many educators have reached out to the UPE complaining that they have not been contacted by the Ministry of Education to assign them a class for the coming scholastic year. The failure to issue deployment notices to educators and the need to prepare lesson plans and resources with the school year commencing in three weeks’ time have caused uncertainty and anxiety. 

“We have not been told what class we are going to teach, and now we have to prepare everything during the coming days! All this anxiety is unnecessary if the Ministry planned in advance,” said one primary teacher. Another stated: “Last year we were told a day or two before school started and it left me in distress”. The same can be said for many LSEs who up till today have not been advised where they will be deployed or what student they are going to be assigned to. 

The UPE cannot condone the level of disorganisation at the Ministry when it brings unnecessary hardship to its members. It is a fact that these abysmal circumstances have a negative, knock-on effect on our students.  

We at the UPE are attuned to the uncertainty many of you feel in these difficult days. We promise to deliver and will not allow this present state of affairs to continue. We are doing our best to offer a beacon of hope to the thousands of educators who have been mistreated over the years. To this end, it is our intention to ensure that educators are advised of their duties and responsibilities well beforehand thus enabling them to be well-prepared for the challenges ahead in 2021-2022. 

Should any union member have any further queries on this issue or any other, please contact us on 21221252/6/8, or via email at info@upe.mt