Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1181922
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 NOVEMBER 2019 NEWS The Planning Authority would like to inform the public and its customers that on Thursday 7th November 2019, the Planning Authority will be organizing the Malta Architecture and Spa al Planning (MASP) conference outside its premises. In this regard, on this day, services rendered to the public may be restricted due to the fact that some employees will be a ending the conference. On Friday 8th November 2019 the Planning Authority offices in Floriana and Gozo will be closed all day as the Authority is organizing a professional development day for all employees. The Authority's enforcement emergency services will remain opera onal on both dates. All planning applica ons and their respec ve plans may be viewed free of charge through the Authority's e-applica ons system h p://eapps.pa.org.mt We apologize for any inconvenience. NOTICE PLANNING AUTHORITY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Yvette Debono was only trans- ferred the Dubai company's shares in March 2018 from a cor- porate service provider. A Mal- tese court this year recognised the Cypriot court's decision, as per EU law. But the MFSA opposed the release of funds from Satabank, taking the matter to another Maltese court, which said no funds should be released from the bank before there is "the proper scrutiny of these monies over money laundering provi- sions." However, in an appeal by IPIL, the three-judge Court of Appeal presided by the Chief Justice, specifically says the first court was wrong in stopping the ex- ecution of the debt repayment. "Satabank cannot issue the se- questered funds to OSC directly, but it has to deposit this money to the court that issued the exec- utive title, and one understands that the withdrawal will only be authorised if and when there is no reason to stop such a with- drawal – particularly if this pro- cess of verification on Oil & Ship Consultancy does not reveal any irregularities." Oil & Ship Consultancy Ltd was struck off the Belize registry of companies in February 2019. A second, similar case is now ongoing in the Maltese courts, to enforce another Cypriot court decision, brought by Yvette Debono's IPIL against a BVI company, Marine Offshore In- vestments Ltd (MOIL), over a €1.3 million loan agreement also created on 4 September, 2017. The debt was recognised by a Li- massol court in June 2018. Originally, the United States' Office of Foreign Assets Control issued sanctions on companies owned by Gordon Debono, but neither MOIL nor OSC were identified in the first raft of sanc- tions. These included Petroplus Limit- ed, The Business Centre Limited, Inovest Limited, KB Lines Lim- ited, Motorcycle Art Limited, Hi- Low Properties Limited, Eleven Eighty Eight Limited, Malta Di- rectories Limited, Mr Handyman Limited, KB Investments Limited, Seabrass Limited, Tara Limited, Krakern Limited, Gorge Limited, S-Cape Yacht Charter Limited, S-Cape Limited, and Italy-based Petropark S.R.L. Satabank oil cash Gordon Debono KURT SANSONE A government proposal to engage for- eign teachers met stiff resistance but in the non-state sector 81 foreign educa- tors are already plying their trade, Mal- taToday has learnt. Independent and church schools have been resorting to foreign educators to plug staff shortages at all levels for a number of years, an industry source said. Figures seen by MaltaToday show that in the non-state sector there are 35 for- eign teachers in secondary schools and 16 in primary schools. There are also two foreign kindergarten educators and 28 learning support educators. "The phenomenon of having foreign teachers is not exactly new in these schools and in some instances, they are a significant component of the staff complement," the source said. Two months ago, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo told The Malta Inde- pendent that the government was con- sidering employing foreign teachers in specific areas to plug shortages in the public sector. The proposal was rejected by the Mal- ta Union of Teachers, the Union of Pro- fessional Educators and the Nationalist Party. A MaltaToday survey last month found that 55% of voters disagree with the employment of foreign teachers in State schools. Agreement ran at 39%. However, the University of Malta's Ed- ucation Faculty had cautiously backed the idea, saying that foreign teachers may be needed to temporarily fill gaps in the education system. The faculty had also urged the gov- ernment to tackle the teacher short- age through long-term initiatives that would encourage more students to take up teaching as a career. The demand for more teachers has been growing as the government ex- plores more specialisation in the educa- tion sector, such as the Induction Hub for foreign children who do not know English and Maltese. The adoption of different syllabus tracks in secondary school for the core subjects has also necessitated more teachers. At present, there are shortages in Maths, IT and English. A spokesperson for the Education Ministry said the government's first proposal was to rope in "no more than a handful" of foreign teachers for the Induction Hub, to cater for more stu- dents. The hub currently has around 60 stu- dents ranging from primary to second- ary level but teachers insist there could be many more foreign students with language difficulties who may require an induction course in English and Mal- tese. "It is frustrating for a student to be in a mainstream class when he cannot un- derstand and communicate in English or Maltese. But that frustration is also of the teacher who cannot do much. The Induction Hub helps mitigate this prob- lem but it means more teachers are re- quired," the ministry spokesperson said. She added that if the education system is to continue offering more personal- ised services to students, the demand for teachers will continue to increase. "Contrary to popular perception, more students are studying to become teach- ers at university but these are still not enough and they will not solve the more immediate problems," she said. According to information tabled in Parliament, there are 5,555 teachers, 802 kindergarten educators, and 3,836 learning support educators in State schools. These represent an increase of 2,269 employees over 2012. The government has an open call for teachers but according to the national minimum standards, applicants have to know Maltese along with English. This serves as a stumbling block for the pub- lic sector to employ foreign qualified teachers. But while resistance in the education sector to foreign teachers is palpable, not the same can be said in the public health sector, where foreign doctors, nurses and carers have plugged serious employment gaps. Speaking on TVM's Dissett last week, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said he could not understand why there is a resistance for foreign teachers when the concept was accepted in a very sensitive sector such as healthcare. The MUT had come out against the proposal, insisting that it would not accept government "taking the easy way out" and employing foreign educa- tors to solve shortages in government schools while ignoring its proposals to encourage more Maltese to join and re- main in the profession. Non-state schools resort to foreign teachers to plug shortage