Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/924080
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 10 JANUARY 2018 News 4 OPENING SOON IN MALTA Teachers, LSAs in the dark over expected pay rise KURT SANSONE TEACHERS and learning sup- port assistants returned to school after the Christmas holi- days on Monday without know- ing the extent of promised wage increases. Educators who spoke to Malta- Today on condition of anonym- ity said they were given no infor- mation on the agreement signed between the government and the Malta Union of Teachers on 21 December. Hailed as a milestone, the agreement makes provisions for pay rises that acceded the 20% demanded by the union. The agreement also covers work conditions and was brokered af- ter the MUT called off a one-day strike in November. However, details have been scant and educators seeking more information have been stonewalled, leaving them un- sure of how the agreement will impact their pay and work con- ditions. "We have been hearing differ- ent things about the expected increase but nobody seems to be able to tell us what we are to ex- pect in our January pay," a group of frustrated teachers told Mal- taToday. It is also unclear whether sup- ply teachers and LSAs will ben- efit from the pay increases. Rumours among teachers have been rife over an initial 14% in- crease in pay this year. However, it appears the wage increases will not be reflected in the basic pay since this would disrupt the government scales. Increases are very likely to be reflected in the allowances that teachers and LSAs receive. "But nobody knows whether the increase will be worked out as a percentage of the current allowances or as a percentage of the total income," the teachers said. A percentage increase of the current allowance will be much less than a percentage increase of an educator's total income. Questions sent to the Educa- tion Ministry over the financial aspects of the five-year agree- ment remained unanswered by the time of writing. It remains unclear, as well, what the agreed pay rises will cost public coffers. The financial aspects of the agreement will benefit educa- tors in State and church schools. Speaking on TVM yesterday morning, Frank Fabri, the per- manent secretary at the Edu- cation Ministry, did not delve into the financial aspects of the agreement but said details will be announced shortly. Fabri did say that as a result of the agree- ment, mid-year exams in gov- ernment schools will be discon- tinued from the next scholastic year and replaced by an assess- ment system which will yield an extra 50 hours of classroom time. Fabri said a key feature of the agreement was that all syllabi would be reviewed. The MUT told MaltaToday it will be organising a meeting for its delegates to provide informa- tion about the agreement. The note to delegates was emailed yesterday morning. "The agreement is also being printed and is going to be avail- able to members in the coming days. There is absolutely noth- ing secret in all this and the MUT is just following normal procedure within its structures and other logistical considera- tions," a union spokesperson told MaltaToday. He would not elaborate on the details of the agreement, insist- ing, however, that "all teaching grades will be positively affected by the agreement, including all supply grades".