Updated 8.30pm, adds UPE statement
All students will be heading back to school on Monday after a teachers strike was called off after two days.
In a statement on Friday afternoon, the government said it had reached an agreement with the Malta Union of Teachers together with representatives from Church and independent schools.
The decision to reopen schools on Monday came after a meeting on Friday morning attended by the education authorities, the MUT, representatives from Church and independent school as well as public health chief Charmaine Gauci.
In the statement, the government said the existing protocols, including contact tracing, would be stepped up. It also pledged to give priority to school staff in its vaccination programme.
Newsbook
Updated 09:10 AM
Miguela Xuereb
The Malta Union of Teachers announced that the meeting held with Prime Minister Robert Abela and Education Minister Justyne Caruana was inconclusive, and that discussions will ensue Friday morning. The strike is still on for tomorrow.
The Thursday evening meeting was held after the first day of a two-day strike came to an end.
The union ordered its members not to turn up to work on Thursday and Friday as schools reopened following Christmas recess after the government refused to move classes online following a spike in coronavirus cases.
On Wednesday, Malta registered 224 new infections making it the sharpest spike in cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
An emergency meeting will be held at Castille this evening between the Malta Union of Teachers, the Prime Minister and Education Minister Justyne Caruana ended with no conclusion.
The union said strike action in State schools on Friday will go ahead but talks will continue in the morning.
The MUT said in a Facebook post that talks were inconclusive .
The meeting was called this afternoon after a first day of strike action caused chaos in some schools.
On Wednesday, the union ordered a two-day strike on the eve of State schools reopening after the Christmas holidays.
The union wanted schools to go online because of the spike in COVID-19 cases, something the government refused to do. Church schools unilaterally decided to start online.
Last updated 8.45pm with MUT saying meeting with government was inconclusive
Scenes of confusion met the few pupils who turned up at government schools on Thur