The Education Ministry has so far refrained from commenting on plans for a White Paper on school hours that could possibly lead to staggered school opening times.
The measure was announced by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna on Monday as one of a number of ways to reduce morning gridlock traffic.
Professor Scicluna said school transport, as well as parents driving their children to schools, have a direct impact on traffic congestion. The White Paper will initiate a process of consultation during which the government will hear different opinions on whether schools should have different opening times. “Obviously there are advantages and disadvantages and we have to weigh in the different opinions coming from teachers, parents and students.”
The Malta Union of Teachers quickly declared that it does not agree with the proposal and, in its initial reaction to the budget, said that the solution lies within a good public transport system. It also said the problem was created in 2012, when the previous administration entered an unacceptable long-term contract.
In comments to The Malta Independent online, MUT President Kevin Bonello insisted that traffic congestion will remain, irrespective of a change or an increase in school times. “Students in every European country have free passes for public transport. The Finance Minister spoke about improving public transport so let us tie in the two concepts together.”
Other critics of the White Paper said that changing school times might actually lead to wider chaos, besides a big headache for working parents. If a number of schools start opening later on during the morning, parents who work would find it very difficult, if not impossible, to take their children to school or wait at home until their transport picks them up. It also remains to be seen whether teachers’ work hours can be easily changed to accommodate such changes.
The Malta Independent asked the Education Minister for his thoughts on these arguments. In a curt reply, a spokesman for Mr Bartolo said that, “the government wishes to hear opinions on all of these issues during the consultation period.”