MUT was not consulted by anyone about tablets in classrooms

MUT president Kevin Bonello said today neither political party consulted the union before making proposals on giving tablets to school children. Speaking at a press conference this morning, he said the MUT was not against the introduction of tablets as a classroom tool, but, he said, this was a reform which merited consultation with teachers. He questioned whether the two political parties were listening to the teachers because. he said, so far very few of the proposals mentioned by the MUT had been mentioned in the campaigns. The proposals, he said, included additional measures for safety in schools, measures against bullying, and tackling basic things such as cleanliness. He noted that a report presented by the MUT last year showed that teachers were overwhelmed by rapid reforms. Therefore the MUT was surprised to hear about the tablets, which were another reform. He said that other priorities needed to be taken in hand, such as reducing the number of pupils in order to enable teachers to better handle mixed ability classrooms. He said that in the tablets issue one had to consider various issues, including the fact that current regulations do not allow wifi in state...