University Of Malta Student: No Freedom of Speech in Our Education System
George Portelli is a student at the University of Malta. The article was originally published on his personal blog and is being reproduced here with his permission
Sandra Gauci is a Maltese teacher and a stand-up comedian who is known for her political satire content. She commented about Nationalist Party MP Kristy Debono and suggested that she should attempt to work as a teacher. Sandra currently works at Kulleġġ San Ġorġ Preca and was informed that she would receive a formal ‘admonishment’ (since she did not take the video down after 24 hours notice). The school took a disliking to Sandra’s comedic joke and she didn’t even mention the school by name either.
Sandra Gauci raised issues through her comedic bit that hit too close to home. Teachers in Malta are severely underpaid, no teacher in Malta is earning much more than €1,800 per month. The average wage for a primary school teacher in Malta is approximately €22,603 per year. The European Commission study concluded Malta’s primary school teacher wage was below 42 other European countries.
First of all, well done to Ms Sandra Gauci, it is rare that you see someone with such backbone. Freedom of speech does not exist in the education sector. From Secondary School to the University of Malta the institutions are built to silence. Schools are good at bringing up the importance of ‘setting an example’ and the irony is quite comedic.
In Secondary School, I raised an issue that a particular student was being bullied. From racial slurs, physically hurting him and constantly emotionally abusing him. An English teacher also made a comment to management about it and nothing was done and I further pushed for something to be done about it. Nothing was ever done to stop that bullying from happening. I’m fortunate, I had a good experience with Secondary School but a lot of students do not associate it with good memories.
Imagine paying €4,000 to €5,000 a year for your child to attend a private school in Malta, to be bullied throughout the day, the teacher seeing it raises the issue with management and is quietly and politely told to shut up. It’s bad business to kick out a bully that’s making them a lot of money every year. The teacher that tries to make a difference in the student’s life is being paid €1,500 to €1,800 a month and Shareholders are sitting in a 2020 BMW 8-Series Gran Coupe with Louis Vuitton dresses and Giorgio Armani suits.
Maltese Medical Students at the University of Malta are being sidelined for Bart Medical Students studying in Malta. If you’re a third-year Medical Student at UoM you shouldn’t be surprised. This is a quotation of the annual cost for a Barts Medical Student in Malta.
“Annual fees for the Malta medicine programme are €19,500 for 2019 entry, for UK/EU, and international (non-EU) students. Fees for 2020 will be published later in the year.”
Money is the only reason you are not getting the medical practice as a student. Ministry of Education cannot afford to prioritize Maltese Students and that will never change as long as Barts Students exist. Mater Dei Staff will either be forced to work harder and support more students, which will definitely impact the medical service they provide. They may also do a structural change but they’ll never prioritize a UM Student over a student paying them a small fortune every year.
The Education Sector responding to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia is even more hypocritical. Schools try to use it as a talking point to address freedom of speech, the importance of journalism and other important points but when push comes to shove and they’re faced with an array of criticism they resort to silencing anyone that is vocal, like Ms Sandra Gauci. If you are interested in Sandra’s content you can visit her Facebook page here.
Sometimes I wonder if dropping out and refusing to see the bullshit like Ray Charles is the way forward.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
Sorry Jesuits.
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