The Union of Professional Educators (UPE) has notified the education authorities about an unacceptable situation at a St Theresa College Primary School. The Head of School concerned has allegedly failed to concretely assign a class to a primary teacher for the forthcoming scholastic year.
The Head of School, allegedly harbouring a grudge against this particular teacher, failed to treat this teacher at par with other colleagues. In fact, unlike other teachers at this school who were concretely assigned a class before the summer recess, this particular teacher was left pending without justification.
The UPE reported the matter multiple times to the Ministry of Education, including the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Matthew Vella. Infact, since July, the Union has been urging the Ministry to provide clarity on the issue. These reports followed earlier ones concerning the alleged conduct of the Head of School vis-a-vis this particular teacher which, in the UPE’s view, are tantamount to bullying and workplace mobbing.
The UPE maintains that it is crucial for teachers to be informed promptly after the school year comes to an end about their class placement for the forthcoming year. This is important in order to adequately prepare the necessary work and resources for the upcoming scholastic year, especially if they are assigned a new year group.
Upon insistence from the UPE and after receiving reports from various educators regarding alleged wrongdoing regarding the Head of School, the Ministry initiated an investigation. Although by now the Ministry possesses all the required information concerning the alleged wrongdoings, the investigation is taking longer than expected to conclude.
Irrespective of the outcome of the investigation, the union raises questions about the legality and ethics of the situation which was left to deteriorate for months on end to the detriment of all. Why were the UPE’s reports on allegations of wrongdoing by the Head of School not acted upon with immediacy? Why did the Head of School concerned fail to concretely assign a class to this teacher after the UPE’s reports? Isn’t this by and of itself a form of retaliation and victimisation of the teacher concerned? Worse still, why was the Head of School concerned allegedly allowed to defy the instructions of her line manager, the College Principal, to assign a class to the said teacher as was her duty to do so in the first place? Why did the Director General of the Directorate of Educational Service not take prompt action to resolve this issue? Is the Director General not bothered about this teacher’s well-being?
In light of these circumstances the UPE cannot but express its utmost concern at the lack of consideration being given to the well being of educators apart from the apparent lack of regard to established public service regulations as well as to the Code of Ethics fo the Teaching Profession. Educators deserve better.
