The government is planning on making computer labs obsolete, by e-enabling every child at school and keeping in mind children’s safety, stated IT Minister Austin Gatt yesterday, after signing a cooperation agreement with non-profit organisation Childnet International.

The minister referred to the government’s plan to turn Malta into the foremost EU country in the IT sector. He explained that the government was planning to provide an internet link to each student within the next four to five years, thus eliminating the concept of computer labs in schools.

However, internet access also means a higher risk for children to come across sites that are not suitable for them, thus increasing the need for e-safety. The agreement signed yesterday with Childnet International aims at helping adults – particularly parents and teachers, to guarantee children a safe surf on the net.

Childnet International chief executive officer Stephen Carrick-Davies, said his organisation’s mission was to “help make the internet a great and safe place for children”.

Mr Carrick-Davies explained that by giving parents and teachers resources to keep their children safe on-line, they would be tackling the so-called off-line issues, such as bullying.

Childnet International was giving a positive message to schools and helping them tackle problems students may face.

The organisation’s range of resources were developed in the UK and these have been offered to 200 Maltese teachers who yesterday attended a conference organised by Childnet International on E-Safety – A Whole Community Approach. Childnet’s resources are accessible on-line on www.childnet-int.org.

Quoting a report compiled by his ministry, Dr Gatt said that 52 per cent of households with children under 16 years of age who have a computer were considered very aware of their children’s safety on the net.

Forty-two per cent were aware of a child safety programme that was currently being run in Malta. In fact this programme has been run for the past two years by Appogg.

The agency’s chief executive officer, Joe Gerada, said the number of reports of abuse filed this year by children, teachers and parents has doubled when compared to last year. During last year’s latter six months 105 reports were filed, while an average of 20 reports per month were filed during the current year.

Appogg runs a hotline where people can report any concerns regarding website or internet encounters. Any reports may be filed by phoning 179 or through the net by logging on to www.appogg.gov.mt/hotline.

Mr Gerada said the agency has trained staff to man the hotline and has also become a full member of the international internet hotlines association INHOPE.

He thanked the Education Division and the police for their collaboration.