PSD teachers fear subject will fall victim to primary educator shortage
Primary school children need lessons in Personal and Social Development (PSD) to serve as a safe space to voice concerns and worries, teachers of the subject have said, amid concerns it could be dropped. In a statement, the Malta PSD Association said primary school teachers might not have enough time to conduct these lessons if they had a syllabus of academic subjects. The comments come after the teachers’ union declared a dispute with the government over the possibility of using educators who teach non-academic subjects to fill shortages in primary schools. This would include PSD teachers, who would have to take over a primary classroom and focus on academic subjects instead of personal and social development. Times of Malta reported this week that state schools are missing some 80 teachers at primary level, just before children return to school next week. In the statement, the association said that, after last year’s shortage, caused by the need to have fewer students per classroom because of the COVID-19 restrictions, leading to the need for more teachers, there had been “enough time” for the issue to be addressed. “By solving this problem in this way, we are going against...