The number of public sector workers increased by 300 (0.6 per cent) last month, compared to July 2025, taking the total number of people employed to 53,747, according to the latest figures released by the Statistics Service. For the first seven months of this year the overall increase was just 0.3 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last year.

On a more positive note, there were 230 fewer people employed in the civil service, which was a one per cent reduction. Permanent staff were down by 0.7 per cent, those on open contracts were down by 2.7 per cent and those on hourly rates were down by 2.1 per cent. The only increase was in the number employed on limited period contracts, which was up by 84 people.

The overall rise in the public sector is accounted for by the increase in the number of people employed in public education. There were 427 more people employed over the last year, the majority of whom (237) were on open contracts. The number of people employed in education keeps on increasing because of the way public education is organised.

If the teaching unions were not so powerful, always dictating their terms to the government, the numbers would not have been on a continuous upward path. For instance, teachers are guaranteed fewer teaching periods with years of service, which creates demand for more teachers. Primary schools, for unknown reasons, often have two head teachers, when one should suffice. Then there are the abuses of sick leave which are rife at public schools.

Another major cause for the steady increase in numbers is the hundreds of teachers who are seconded to the education ministry doing no work at all in schools. There is big competition among teachers for a post at the ministry as it means the end of their teaching career and the start of an easy life as a civil servant. Does the ministry really need so many teachers working for it when there are supposedly bigger needs in schools?

No politician dares to address this problem because they are afraid of the unions which call the shots. Of course, teaching unions are only concerned about the well-being of their members even if this incurs a bigger cost to the taxpayer. They do not care if the education service payroll keeps on rising while the number of students in public schools is declining. Every year, one of the main union demands is the hiring of more teachers.

It is time the education minister, who, to her credit, is not afraid to stand up to the unions, looked at the issue of increasing teaching numbers and explored ways of bringing this trend under control. A first step would be cutting the number of teachers working at the ministry and sending them back to public schools.