Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said in Parliament that the decision to implement the co-ed and middle schools concept across the whole secondary school spectrum was taken before the report on the pilot project being carried out in St Claire’s College has been drawn up.

He was replying to a parliamentary question submitted by Nationalist education spokesman Joe Cassar, who asked for details on the consultation exercise the government said it had carried out on the reform. Following the Malta Union of Teachers’ withdrawal from the co-ed national committee on grounds that it had not been consulted, Dr Cassar asked the minister to table the report on the government’s consultation with MUT, central administration, school administration, educators, parents and students.

In his reply, Mr Bartolo said that it has been working on the issue since June and involved the MUT, as well as the principal, head, assistant heads and parents and students at St Claire College. He said that it had been a positive experience and officers of other colleges had called for the system to be expanded to cover other schools.

“What we did at St Claire’s college between June and September could be repeated in other colleges until September,” the minister said.

But a report on the St Claire’s experience is still being drawn up to be used when the system is introduced in other colleges, the minister said.

He criticised the previous government for not carrying out a consultation exercise when it wanted to open the national sports school.