Tradition is what makes a country, an organisation, even a family.

As a nation, we have many events and activities that are held on particular days each year, as they have been for many years, in some cases for decades or centuries. Organisations have their own commemorations and families celebrate together on birthdays and anniversaries. All in the name of tradition.

But time and progress are the main adversaries of tradition, and there are occasions when, unfortunately and sadly, these traditions fade away. For example, few children play passju these days, engrossed as they are in computer and video games. Countless other traditions have been lost and will continue to be lost, over the years.

This is because the identity of a nation, of an organisation, of an individual, changes every day. It is something alive that continues to evolve, and therefore traditions have to change to adapt to the new circumstances.

The news, reported in The Malta Independent a week ago, that St Aloysius’ College will no longer be opening its doors on Saturdays, as it has done since its inauguration way back in 1907, is yet another example of the fact that there are traditions that have to make way for progress.

The first Jesuit schools were opened more than 500 years ago and, since their inception, have given students a midweek break, based on the concept that dividing the school week into two gave students a chance to concentrate more on their studies. In recent years, Jesuit schools around the world have felt it necessary to change the system to conform with that employed in all other schools, and Malta was one of the few remaining countries where the old “Wednesday-off” system was still in place.

Speaking to this newspaper, college rector Patrick Magro said the college still believed that having Wednesday off from school “has its advantages” and that it was “important for students to catch up on their studies”.

But at the same time he admitted that the college had been pressured into changing its system by the logistical problems that many parents were facing.

Many students were staying at home on their own on Wednesdays because both parents work, and while students in senior classes are old enough to take care of themselves, having Wednesday off from school created a weekly problem for the parents of younger pupils.

A questionnaire sent to parents revealed an overwhelming wish that the college changes its system to that in force in all other schools in Malta – public, private and Church – that is, a school week between Monday and Friday. The college has decided to accept this request, and as from next year, Wednesday will be a normal school day and Saturday will be a holiday.

On the one hand, it must be admitted that the college has made the right decision, because it has been taken following years of pressure on the college authorities. The idea of changing the system is not new, as it has been proposed several times in the past. But it had always been rejected until, of course, the decision that has been taken now.

On the other hand, the “uniqueness” of St Aloysius’ College will now be lost when it becomes like all the other schools. Wednesday off was considered to be “different” by all Old Aloysians (and present ones, too), both for the hikes that used to be held and for studying when the examinations approached and, for the naughtier ones, it could also mean a punishment: having to go to school on Wednesday when all your colleagues were on holiday.

From next year, Wednesday will be a normal school day for St Aloysius’ students too. It was inevitable that, sooner or later, it would be necessary to take such a decision but, now that it has been, it does lead to the bitter feeling that tradition is many times the loser when it is confronted by progress.