Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1414808
5 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 29 SEPTEMBER 2021 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 A shortage of 80 teachers was plugged over the weekend by the Education Ministry that as- signed classrooms to peripatetic teachers. These educators normally teach specialised sub- jects like art, music, PE, science and ethics, and commute between different schools. The situation has caused disquiet among peri- patetic teachers who are now expected to prepare schemes of work for their students in several sub- jects, including Maltese, English and maths. A music teacher who spoke to MaltaToday on condition of anonymity said she was assigned a classroom 48 hours before the school year started. "I'm lost. I will be in a classroom with no idea what to do, let alone the poor students who will not get the education they deserve," she said. Her situation is similar to other peripatetic teach- ers who were only informed by the authorities that they would be assigned to a classroom on Saturday afternoon. An assistant head who also spoke on condition of anonymity said schools that had teacher shortages only got to know who was assigned to them over the weekend. "We were assigned a brilliant art teacher but who has no idea how to teach the core subjects and with no time to prepare," she said. The situation has caused concern among parents of children in classrooms effected by the shortages and who have to contend with unprepared and de- moralised peripatetic teachers. "The situation is unfair on the teachers who were given last-minute postings and unfair on our chil- dren who will not be getting a proper education," a group of parents who have children in a Year 5 class said. The class was assigned a PE teacher. The parents said that an online meeting with the assigned class teacher scheduled for yesterday was postponed indefinitely. But it is also students who benefit from com- plimentary services that will suffer since some of these educators have also been assigned classes. Education Minister Justyne Caruana has said that from 500 peripatetic teachers 81 had to be assigned classroom duties. She insisted the peripatetic ser- vices will continue being given as normal. The shortage of teachers is partly caused by COVID-19 protocols that dictate a minimum of 1.5m between student desks, which in some cases has required classrooms to be split. On Monday, the Education Ministry filed a court injunction against the Malta Union of Teachers and the Union of Professional Educators to stop industrial action after the unions issued directives to peripatetic teachers impacted by the last-min- ute decision. However, the judge allocated to hear the case, on Tuesday recused himself after lawyers highlighted the fact that his wife is a union member. The case was assigned to Mr Justice Robert G. Mangion who appointed a first hearing on Tues- day morning. When the sitting began, the lawyers representing the unions, highlighted the fact that the judge's wife is a member of one of the unions. Citing local and EU case-law, the MUT's lawyer Keith Borg pointed out that although the judge's integrity was not being questioned, justice had to "be seen to be done." In view of the sensitivity of the dispute, he said, it would be better were the judge to recuse himself and not give rise to any doubts as to the impartial- ity of the proceedings. Lawyer James D'Agostino, appearing on behalf of the ministry, agreed, saying that case-law on the subject was clear. He also said he trusted the dis- cretion of the sitting judge. After hearing the arguments, the judge upheld the request for recusal. The case will now be re-as- signed to another member of the judiciary. Permanent Secretary Frank Fabri, Director Gen- eral Educational Services Emil Vassallo and Direc- tor Education Resources Lucienne Calleja repre- sented the education authorities. The MUT president Marco Bonnici and UPE CEO Graham Sansone appeared for their respec- tive unions. Lawyers James D'Agostino and Dennis Zammit assisted the applicants. Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and David Camilleri are repre- senting the UPE. Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Keith Borg and Rebecca Mercieca assisted the MUT. MATTHEW AGIUS A judge will today hear an urgent request for the rearrest of a man who, just yesterday, successfully contested the validity of his arrest, tied to a request for his extradition to the United States. The Office of the Attorney Gener- al has filed an urgent application for the re-arrest Frank Salvatore Ra- faraci, a 68 year-old Italian-Amer- ican man, who is wanted by the American authorities to answer charges of having defrauded the United States Government out of some €50 million. Rafaraci is wanted by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for prosecution on the offences of conspiracy to com- mit bribery, bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The man had been suspected as a par- ticipant in a scheme that used falsi- fied invoices and receipts for equip- ment and supplies provided to the US Navy. The man is also alleged to have paid a US government official tens of thousands of euros in cash bribes in exchange for insider information on future Navy contracts. In the urgent application filed on Tuesday, the Attorney General ar- gued that the criminal complaint filed and sworn by Special Agent Cordell de La Pena before the US district court amounted to a docu- ment charging Rafaraci with crimes of a very serious nature in the US. This document was also supple- mented by an arrest warrant issued by the same US court and an official request for the man's arrest by the US Department of justice, pointed out the public prosecutor's applica- tion. The AG said that he was "per- plexed by the Court's decision to release the requested person from custody simply because the charge sheet is described under US law as being a 'Criminal Complaint.'" The AG requested the court order that Rafaraci is arrested again. Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja will pre- side the case. AG requests urgent re-arrest of man wanted by the US until extradition proceedings conclude Peripatetic teachers assigned classrooms 48 hours before school started Education Minister Justyne Caruana said 81 of 500 peripatetic teachers had to be assigned classroom duties