The Education Ministry told The Malta Independent that it has “no further comments” to make regarding Mtarfa residents who are frustrated as a new primary school will not be built in their locality after the current building was deemed structurally unsafe.

Students have been removed from the school and after the Carnival holidays, they will first be temporarily moved to Msida as from today for the rest of the scholastic year and then, from September, will be relocated to Rabat.

Mtarfa students will be moving to St Nicholas College School A, Rabat, while the current students in Rabat will be moving to a new school that is currently under construction in that locality.

However, in a story published last Sunday by The Malta Independent on Sunday, Mtarfa residents and parents expressed their frustration as they are going to end up without a school in Mtarfa.

Following this, questions were sent to the Education Ministry, asking, among other things, why the current school building in Mtarfa will not be regenerated; whether there are plans for a new school to be built somewhere in Mtarfa in the future and, if not why; what steps the ministry will take to ensure children will not fall behind since they will experience three different schools in one year, among other things.

But in response, the ministry simply sent a press release from two weeks ago and chose not to comment further, not answering the questions.

The Mtarfa school building, which was previously used as a primary school in Mtarfa for students from Kindergarten to Year 6, was built in 1893 as the Officers' Mess for the British. 92 students receive their education there. In recent years, cracks have developed due to natural wear and tear of the building and recently concrete blocks have been used to support up parts of the façade.

Parents were informed about the transfer to Msida during a meeting with educators which provided information about how the students will be transferred. Parents and educators were informed that it was necessary to take this step to protect the safety of students and teachers.