The work of the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools (FTS) is to offer modern schools to Maltese children, through embellishment and modernisation projects as well as construction of new buildings and schools.
The FTS believes that state schools need to be modernised to motivate children to learn and study in an environment set and equipped with more modern resources and educational material. It is determined to continue working for children’s education especially those at a disadvantage because they come from a family with limited means.
The FTS follows the principle that a high-quality environment stimulates high-quality learning.
History of the FTS
The majority of the government’s primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools were constructed either before the last world war or in the following 15-20 years. In the 1970s, the government attempted to satisfy the rising demand for educational physical facilities by converting a number of British services buildings into schools such as Sandhurst, Liceo M.A. Vassalli, and Mtarfa.
The FTS was set up in 2001 following an initiative taken by Education Minister Louis Galea to appoint a task force seeking an alternative approach to finance the ongoing capital development of primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools.
It was entrusted with the responsibility of developing and implementing an innovative strategy inspired by the belief that education must be seen as an investment for future generations.
Since it started operating, the FTS has been taking stock of the state of all primary and secondary schools in Malta and Gozo. It went ahead with auditing these buildings in order to ascertain their security to continue to serve Malta’s educational requirements and standards.
What the FTS has done so far
St Benedict’s College was the first to be constructed by the FTS. It was finished in 2005 and has four storeys over 20,000 square metres, of which 12,000 square metres of land is for recreational purposes. The school boasts of 132 airy rooms of quite a large size; 45 classes, 18 resource rooms, 17 science and technology labs, five computer labs, three guidance and counselling rooms, three art rooms, three technical drawing rooms, a canteen, a library, changing rooms, five PSD rooms, three staff rooms, a drama and multi-purpose room, eight administration rooms, a clinic and a number of stores. The school and its service are completely accessible, with two lifts available which reach all levels.
The new secondary school in Qormi, St Ignatius, which took less than 18 months to complete, was purposely constructed to reduce electricity and water consumption. The school ceilings are covered with polyurethane foam insulation thought to minimise the winter cold and the summer heat. The outer glass apertures are double glazed and laminated for health and safety reasons.
Two water reservoirs which can hold up to 1.2 million litres were also built for the use of the school. The school also has a solar water heater system together with solar panels which produce electricity for the school, also known as T5 Technology, and energy saving lamps. Solar lighting units were installed to enable sunlight to move from the rooftop towards corridor ceilings for lighting effect without the use of electricity. A small wind turbine to generate electricity has also been installed.
The school has a nine-a-side synthetic turf football pitch and an athletic track 200 meters long with six lanes. The school also comprises a Greek theatre and other sports facilities.
Maintenance work was completed in several schools over the past summer while in other schools this kind of work is still being carried out. This involves: the building of new halls in Mqabba, Siggiewi and Safi; replacement of aluminium apertures in Zabbar, Mosta, Naxxar, Lija, Birzebbuga, Hamrun, Gzira and in Ghajnsielem and Zebbug, Gozo primary schools; improvement of sanitary systems; door replacements; lift installations in Zabbar, Rabat, St Julian’s and Luqa primary schools; work on school facades in Vittoriosa and Mellieha primary schools; membrane covers on ceilings in St Paul’s bay; extensive paintwork in Sta Venera, Birzebbuga, Zabbar, Marsascala, Birkirkara, Lija/Balzan primary schools and concrete work in several schools as well as work on playgrounds in Kirkop and Zurrieq primary schools. A lot of this work is being done by the Education Division technical services branch workers.
In St Theresa Junior Lyceum girls secondary school, works completed in these last few years include the construction of lifts and the building of ramps for easier accessibility, improvement of sanitary facilities, aluminium apertures, concrete, paintwork and waterproofing works.
Pending FTS works
New construction work includes work on Pembroke primary school which should open before the next scholastic year. This new school will replace the one in use, which used to serve as a British services barracks before the seventies.
The new halls built in Mqabba, Safi, Siggiewi and Marsaxlokk will not only be serving the needs of the school but also those of the respective local communities.
The St Theresa Junior Lyceum current maintenance project involves construction work, water and lighting systems, tile-laying and marble work, work on sanitary facilities, placement of internal and external apertures, soffit lining works, cope-stone and furniture works .
Apart from the construction of the Pembroke primary schools, work on the construction of new schools in Qormi and Cospicua has already begun while the construction of new schools in Gozo, Mosta and Pembroke will initiate shortly.
Maintenance and
construction statistics
Prior to the setting up of the FTS the government’s capital expenditure for the construction and refurbishment of schools amounted to only Lm15.3 million over 30 years.
St Ignatius College Boys Secondary school was constructed within the Lm3 million budget while maintenance and construction work allocated to primary schools amounts to around Lm2.5 million (EUR5.82 million). According to the FTS, the construction of the new Pembroke Primary school will amount to around Lm750,000 (EUR1.7 million) while maintenance works consisting of replacements of aluminium apertures amount to Lm350,000 (EUR815,280).
Expenditure over the extensive and intensive maintenance and construction work carried out at the St Theresa Junior Lyceum Mriehel will amount to Lm500,000.
The College System
This is part of the Educational reform which is being implemented. In June 2005 the ministry published the educational reform document “For All Children to Succeed” which outlines the policy direction and the way forward in the education system, particularly with regard to compulsory education.
During the 2005-2006 scholastic year three colleges started operating as a pilot project and in the scholastic year 2006-2007 another four colleges started functioning.
In this scholastic year all primary and secondary schools have been grouped into 10 different colleges.
The Colleges
Gozo College includes the Ghajnsielem, Gharb, Kercem, Nadur, Qala, San Lawrenz, Sannat, Victoria, Xaghra, Xewkija and Zebbug primary schools and Ninu Cremona, and Gian Frangisk Agius De Soldanis secondary schools.
St Margaret College comprises Cospicua, Kalkara, Senglea, Vittoriosa, Xghajra, and Zabbar primary schools and Lorenzo Gafa’ ,Giuseppe Despott, and Erin Serracino Inglott secondary schools.
St Benedict’s College is made up of Birzebbuga, Ghaxaq, Gudja, Kirkop, Mqabba, Qrendi, Safi, and Zurrieq primary schools and St Benedict’s secondary schools, Margaret Mortimer, and Maria Goretti secondary schools.
St George Preca College includes Floriana, Hamrun SS, Hamrun GP, Marsa, Paola, Pieta’, and Valletta primary schools and Dun Guzepp Zammit Brighella, Francis X Attard, Lorenzo Manche’, Maria Assumpta, and Fra Diego Bonanno secondary schools.
St Ignatius College comprises Luqa, Qormi San Gorg, Qormi San Bastjan, Siggiewi, and Zebbug primary schools and Dun Karm Psaila, Guze’ Galea, Mikiel Anton Vassalli and Maria Regina secondary schools.
St Clare College is made up of Gzira, Pembroke, San Gwann, San Giljan, and Sliema primary schools and Antonio Bosio, Sir Adrian Dingli, and Sir Luigi Preziosi secondary schools.
Maria Regina College includes Gharghur, Mellieha, Mosta, Naxxar, and St Paul’s Bay primary schools and Naxxar Boys Secondary, Lily of the Valley, and Sta Venera Boys secondary schools.
St Nicholas College encompasses Attard, Bahrija, Dingli, Mgarr, Mtarfa, and Rabat primary schools and Sir Temi Zammit, and Can Paul Pullicino secondary schools.
St Theresa College is made up of Balzan, Birkirkara, Msida, and Sta Venera primary schools and Vincenzo Borg Brared, Vincenzo Bugeja, St Francis of Assisi and Sta Tereza secondary schools.
St Thomas More college comprises Fgura, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk, Tarxien, and Zejtun primary schools and Guze’ D’Amato, Paola, St Joseph, and Carlo Diacono secondary schools.
Two directorates will replace the current structure of the Education Division as one of these directorates will ensure the standards and education quality provided in schools while the other directorate will offer student, school and teacher services.
The MLP vision
The Labour Party’s policy is that of improving substantially the school environment, Labour spokesman on education Carmelo Abela said.
In the beginning of the 1990s the Labour party in opposition used to put pressure on the government to start embellishing schools. Between 1996 and 1998 when Labour was in government, an embellishment and refurbishment programme in every school was implemented and a new school was finished in 22 months.
The capital vote for these school construction projects between 1996 and 1998 increased five fold, from Lm1.5 million to Lm7.8 million.
He said that after the 1998 election, the Nationalist government continued in the same direction taken up by Labour, adding that in 20 years the Nationalist government had built only two schools.
He said that the FTS is only concentrating on the major works and as such requests from other schools are not being taken into consideration. He said that work should not be carried out during the scholastic year, as this would cause inconvenience and can also be of danger to students.