Only four Church schools, out of a total of 50, have a health and safety teacher, according to the Malta Union of Teachers, whose delegates have recently visited all the Church schools in Malta and Gozo.

Speaking during a press conference, MUT president John Bencini said “we cannot wait for serious accidents to happen; health and safety measures in schools are of utmost importance if we want to safeguard students’ and teachers’ safety”.

The MUT has written to the director-general within the education division and expressed its concern over the lack of teachers responsible for health and safety matters in Church schools.

Mr Bencini said the call for applications for health and safety teachers in Church schools is now four years late, since an agreement between the Archbishop’s Curia and the MUT had been reached for the provision of at least one health and safety teacher in every school.

Such teachers normally have a teaching work load which would be less than that of others, but they receive twice-yearly intensive training to carry out other designated tasks related to health and safety standards in schools, Mr Bencini explained.

Although the Curia has been doing all it can to put pressure on the government to provide necessary funding for training and employment of these special teachers in Church Schools, the vast majority of them still have no health and safety teachers.

“I am also informed there are a number of private schools that do not have purposely-trained health and safety teachers,” Mr Bencini said, adding that when he visited some schools, together with other MUT delegates, they noticed that certain safety standards are lacking.

MUT said it will follow this matter closely, in order to ensure the provision and proper functioning of a health and safety system in every school.