All good things come to an end; this is what the thousands of Maltese students must have said yesterday morning as they woke up and realised that their summer holidays were over.
In fact, government schools yesterday opened their gates to 37,500 students; 19,334 boys and 18,197 girls. More than 7,000 students moved on to a new level of schooling, with 1,700 at kindergarten, 2,400 at primary level and 3,000 starting at secondary level.
The 17,000 students attending Church schools and the 8,000 students attending independent schools start their year on different dates – but some opened yesterday too.
Education Minister Louis Galea yesterday visited a number of schools in order to welcome students, one of which was the newly built Boys Secondary School in Qormi. This school forms part of the St Ignatius College.
The minister told the 171 Form 1 students seated in the school’s assembly area that had they been on that very same spot two years ago, they would have been in the middle of fields and rubble. In fact, the school took less than 18 months to complete.
Dr Galea asked the boys to make full use of the resources that have been placed at their disposal and paid for by their parents’ tax contributions. He also encouraged them to treat their school as their second home.
The minister said that a good education is a must if the younger generation wants to lead a prosperous life. He explained that all government’s efforts would go wasted if students do not do their part; that is study.
Dr Galea referred also to the new laws enacted in parliament regarding education and the recent agreement signed by the government and the Malta Union of Teachers. He said government will start implementing both during this scholastic year.
The Malta Labour Party, in a statement, said the government can procrastinate no more as the agreement and the law have come into effect. It also expressed its concern on any possible hitches that can crop up because of the reorganisation of the Education Division that will be split into two directorates.
Government schools will be employing around 900 teachers at primary level, 40 of which are new comers and 2,000 teachers at secondary level, 100 of which were employed for the first time. There are also 120 peripatetic teachers, 370 kindergarten assistants and more than 1,100 learning support assistants. New teachers were given a two-day induction course prior to the start of the scholastic year. There are also 200 assistant heads, with only four schools out of a total of 113 which are still short of having their full complement of assistant heads.
Another important component of the scholastic year is transport; with 1,700 students being whisked around 671 different routes. According to the Education Ministry, hitches were only present in 11 routes and these were rectified.