STATUTE
1. Name
The name of this organisation shall be Malta Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign
Language, hereinafter MATEFL.
2. Aims and Objectives
a) MATEFL shall strive to promote the development of EFL practitioners
in
the task of facilitating the dissemination, exchange and sharing of ideas among
EFL teachers working in different schools.
b) MATEFL seeks to further EFL teachers’ awareness of:
i) the theoretical underpinnings of language learning/teaching
in general, and EFL in particular;
ii) TEFL methodologies, approaches, and techniques;
iii) resource material for TEFL, its creation, and principled
exploitation.
c) The Association shall strive to keep EFL teachers in
developments in TEFL around the world.
3. Methods
MATEFL shall seek to achieve the above aims by means of the organisation of
talks, seminars, workshops, and conferences on topics relevant to the theory
and classroom practice of TEFL, and by any other suitable means. Furthermore,
it shall promote the development of teachers’ Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
4. Independent status
While willing to co-operate with other local or international bodies in the
furtherance of its aims, MATEFL is and shall remain distinct from and independent
of any particular EFL school, any organised federation or group of such schools,
or any EFL teachers’ trade union, should such a body be set up.
5. International outreach
In order to ensure that EFL in
the field and situated within the global EFL scene, MATEFL shall establish and
maintain working relations with like-minded |EFL organisations abroad. In
particular, it shall seek and maintain affiliation with the International Association of
Teachers of English as a Foreign language (IATEFL).
a) Membership of MATEFL is open to all teachers of EFL current or past,
and to those who have undergone a training course in TEFL, irrespective of other
considerations of experience, qualifications or nationality.
b) The committee reserves the right to refuse applications for membership,
at its discretion, provided that reasons for the refusal are given to the applicant.
c) An annual membership fee of 20 euro is chargeable. The membership period
covered by the annual fee shall run from 1st January to 31st December of each year.
7. Officers and Committee of the Association
a) The elected officers of the Association holding executive positions
shall be:
i) Chair
ii) Vice-Chair
iii) Secretary
iv) Treasurer
b) Elections of the officers of the Association shall be held every two years on the
occasion of the Annual General Meeting. Election shall be by secret ballot of all paid-up
members present and voting at the AGM.
c) The Association shall have a Committee consisting of the officers
mentioned in paragraph 7 a) above together with not more than four additional
elected members. All elected members have full voting rights at committee meetings.
d) The four officers mentioned in paragraph 7 a) above and the other elected
of the Committee shall serve for two years after election, and shall be eligible for re-election
thereafter.
e) The Committee may from time to time co-opt non-voting members of the
Committee from among the membership of MATEFL at its discretion. Co-option
is until the date of the next General Meeting, and shall be renewable.
8. Amendments to this Statute
The Committee shall have the power to alter the Statute, other than Paragraphs 2 and 4 and
this paragraph but no such alteration shall take effect until the same has been confirmed by a
two-thirds majority of the members present and voting at a General Meeting.
Proposed amendments to other parts of the Statute should either be supported by at least two-third
of the voting members of the Committee or submitted to the Chair not less than 60 days
before the date of the Annual General Meeting, with the signed support of at least 10% of
the currently paid-up members. Any such proposed amendments shall be distributed to
members at least 30 days before the Annual General Meeting. To become effective, the proposed
amendment must be ratified by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting at the AGM.
9. Audit of Accounts
The accounts of the Association shall be audited annually and the report of the audit shall
be presented to the Annual General Meeting for approval.
10. Annual General Meeting
a) The AGM of the Association shall be held every year within the first 6 months
of the year to transact the following business:
i) to receive and, if approved, adopt a statement of the Association’s
accounts to the end of the preceding calendar year;
ii) to receive reports of the activities of officers, the Committee, and
the Association;
iii) to appoint an Auditor or Auditors;
iv) to consider any proposals for amendments of this Statute as per
paragraph 8;
v) to consider any matters brought before it by the Committee or
members;
vi) to consider Resolutions proposed and seconded by members and
received by the Committee for inclusion in the Agenda.
b) Notice convening the Annual General Meeting shall be send to members not
less than 30 days before the meeting, and shall specify the matters to be dealt with.
11. Extraordinary General Meeting
a) An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by the Committee at any
time, or must be convened within 30 days from the receipt of a requisition in writing
to the Secretary signed by not less than 20% of the paid-up members specifying the object
of the meeting for any of the following purposes:
i) to deal with any special matter the Committee may desire to place
before the members;
ii) to receive the resignation of the Committee en bloc or to remove
any member or members thereof from office, and to fill the
vacancy/ies thereby arising.
iii) to deal with any special matter which the members requiring the
meeting may desire to place before the Association.
b) Notice convening an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be sent to members
not less than 15 days before the meeting is due to be held, and shall specify the matters
to be dealt with.
12. Quorum and Voting
a) At Committee meetings not less than half of the voting members shall form
a quorum, provided that two of the four officers of the Association are among that
number.
b) At General Meetings, 30% of the paid-up members shall form a quorum.
c) Elections at General Meetings shall be by secret ballot, and all other voting shall
be by show of hands, unless any member requests a secret ballot.
13. Remuneration
The whole of the income and property of the Association shall be applied solely to the
promotion of its aims, objectives and methods as set out in Paragraphs 2 and 3. No part
of MATEFL income or property shall be paid to any member, except for services actually
rendered to MATEFL, other than service on its committee. This rule shall also not preclude
the reimbursement of any expenses incurred in the service of MATEFL as approved by the
Treasurer.
14. Dissolution of the Association
a) MATEFL may be dissolved:
i) by a decision taken in this regard by two-thirds of the members present
and voting at a General Meeting;
ii) if three successive General Meetings, convened within ninety days
of each other, lack a sufficient quorum of members to conduct business.
b) Any property remaining after the Association has been disolved and all its debts
and liabilities have been settled shall not be distributed to members, but shall be given to
some other non-profit-makingorganisation/s, preferably having similar aims and objectives
to MATEFL, an which shall have a similar prohibition regarding the distribution of property
among its members as in this paragraph.
15. Official status of MATEFL
a) MATEFL is a non-profit-making organisation.
b) In all matters, this statute is to be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the
Statute approved at meetings on 8 and 15th December 1994 and amended at AGMs on 22nd April 1998 and 14th April 1999 and 1st January 2013