Stop Pretending To Be A Teacher, Union Tells PL Candidate Offering Free Maths Lessons
A teachers’ union has called out PL candidate Audrey Demicoli for “pretending to be a teacher” by offering free private benchmark maths lessons for Year 6 and Form 1 students.
The Union of Professional Educators (UPE) said a recent Facebook post by Demicoli, an architect, which says the lessons will be held on Saturdays at four PL każini, is an affront to all professional educators.
“The UPE cannot understand why Ms Demicoli has assumed the role of a ‘teacher’ when she is not in possession of a teacher’s warrant,” UPE executive head Graham Sansone said.
“The mentality and image that Ms Demicoli has promoted among the general public is that anyone can be a professional teacher. That is a perception that is completely misleading and poses a threat to the educational sector.”
“Common sense tells us that if you know how to use a tape measure, that does not make you an architect; if you engage in an argument, that does not allow you to call yourself a lawyer and advertise legal services.”
“A teacher, like other members of the professions, dedicates years of training at the University of Malta, followed by ongoing training that has keep them updated with the latest methods.”
Sansone said the union expects Education Minister Justyne Caruana and the Council of the Teaching Profession to take the necessary step stop this abusive action and the Labour Party to instruct Demicoli to immediately put an end to her private lesson plans.
PN candidate and teacher Justin Schembri also called out Demicoli’s private lessons yesterday, saying warranted teachers are disgusted at the way she is pretending to be a teacher.
“I believe that this is a ‘crime’ against the teaching profession, which should be condemned and punished,” he said. “If someone with a teacher’s warrant cannot provide notarial and legal services, how can an architect teach despite not being employed at or with a school? Meanwhile, there are supply teachers who have been teaching for ten years and have remained in the dark.”
“Moreover, [Demicoli] is a political candidate and is possibly offering this service to buy votes, with all due respect to her. This abuse with our children must end once and for all. The Children’s Commissioner is a teacher too; doesn’t this bother her?”
Lovin Malta has reached out to Demicoli to respond to this criticism.
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