School year starting with teaching posts still vacant

The government has once again miscalculated the number of educators needed to cover all teaching posts in State schools, according to the teachers’ union. With school gates reopening this week for a new scholastic year, there are some vacancies which have not yet been filled. Education Minister Evarist Bartolo assured the Times of Malta last month that the start of the academic year would not be marred by staff shortages, as happened last year, also saying that he was “very confident” that there were enough teachers to fill all posts. But with students in State schools returning to the classroom on Wednesday, the Malta Union of Teachers confirmed that it was informed just over a week ago about positions yet to be filled. Speaking to the Times of Malta, union head Marco Bonnici said that while the government had been giving assurances that the shortages issue would not be repeated, it now seemed the situation was no better than last year. At the start of the 2017 scholastic year, the government was forced to resort to asking university students to take up teaching jobs as no educators were available. The decision sparked outrage, with students, parents and teachers complaining...