Work commissioned this summer by the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools (FTS), in collaboration with the Education Division, is expected to be ready before the beginning of the coming scholastic year and within budget, said a spokesman for the Education Ministry.
Over 30 schools will benefit from this year’s Lm2.4m investment, part of the Lm60m budgeted by the government for FTS to modernise all state schools and build a number of new ones.
Speaking to The Malta Independent, a ministry spokesperson said that a number of larger projects will not be completed in the summer months, and in such cases, work will continue during the scholastic year while ensuring that they do not disrupt daily education and at the same time assuring the safety of students.
The FTS is in constant contact with the education authorities and with schools to identify those schools which are in need of immediate intervention and those which only need minor work. Over and above, work is also carried out according to a programme of works for all schools.
Besides carrying routine maintenance and repair work, work also includes the building of new schools such as the ones currently under construction at Kirkop and Qormi. A new block is also being built at the Higher Secondary in Naxxar. Elsewhere, extension work has been carried out in the Siggiewi, Luqa, Marsascala and other primary schools.
Sir Adrian Dingli Girls’ Junior Lyceum in Pembroke and Adelaide Cini Girls’ Secondary School in Hamrun have undergone considerable refurbishment, to the extent that only the outer shell of the building was retained. The schools’ renovation is always carried out with a view towards creating what the foundation calls a “tomorrow’s school” – i.e., a school with a high quality environment which enhances the learning experience.
School premises have to be made accessible to disabled students and teachers. While new structures have been built with this issue in mind, this can present a challenge in the case of older school buildings. The installation of lifts in schools has greatly increased the demand for electricity in schools. Consequently, in several cases, new sub-stations had to be constructed to provide the necessary power supply.
With regard to the future, the ministry spokesperson said that “the college system provides for a precincts officer who will be in charge of all the schools within the college. The ministry is already piloting this system in two colleges – Cottonera and St Benedict.
The precincts officer will have at his disposal a team of people who will do the necessary day-to-day maintenance, cleaning and gardening works in the schools, and will also be responsible for coordinating major works with FTS.
“This will alleviate a lot of the work currently done by heads of school, and will allow heads to concentrate further on curricular issues, to give more support to teachers and to monitor the teaching and learning processes in the classroom,” the spokesperson said.