With reference to the interview given by Mr Joe Camilleri, Chairperson Kummissjoni Nazzjonali Persuni b’Dizabilta (KNPD) in The Malta Independent yesterday, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport would like to clarify some matters.

This Ministry is currently going through a period of consultation with all stakeholders with regards to the reform whereby special schools are being turned into resource centres. A document to this effect was launched earlier on in July and since then various meetings were held with stakeholders. Three such meetings, two prior to the launch and one after the launch, were held with officials of KNPD.

KNPD are showing concern to the fact that the environment of Dun Manwel Attard School, in Wardija is isolated. This issue has been discussed at length with the Commission and this Ministry is of the opinion that the location and the environment of this Resource Centre in Wardija will offer great opportunities for the development of various programmes to students participating.

Students attending this Resource Centre, and any other Centre, will be provided with supervised transport. Once students are at school a short drive will take them to the quiet village of Burmarrad where students can safely participate in the village life. At the same time if students are being trained to use public transport this can be very well availed of from Burmarrad to other more busy centres like St Paul’s Bay, Mellieha and Mosta.

KNPD is calling for a clear plan on intentions regarding Dun Manwel Attard Special School for its proposed function. Here, reference is made to the Consultation Document, referred to earlier, where it clearly outlines the aims of this Young Adult Education Resource Centre as being to:

• Improve the quality of life and build on the strengths and interests of the individual students;

• Offer a supportive setting through which students develop interpersonal and intrapersonal skills as well as social skills in order to maximise on their independence in order to become active members of society;

• Empower students to take responsibility for their own lives, make informed choices and take decisions either independently or by working with others;

• Provide real life experiences to support students and to facilitate their adolescent transition to adulthood;

• Develop curricular modules that address the vocational training aspect of education and which facilitate transition to further education, employment or Day Centres, whichever is in the best interest of the student;

• Work in collaboration with parents/guardians;

• Work in collaboration with other educational institutions such as MCAST and ITS, and other agencies such as ETC in order to enhance and further facilitate the students’ transition to employment. (pg.24)

Hence, it is clear that the intentions for the Young Adult Education Resource Centre are very clearly mapped out and these will be backed by specific programmes to reach these aims.

This Ministry has for the past year been working very hard to ensure inclusion for all students by proposing reforms and adopting initiatives so that inclusion is surely not undermined!

One can mention:

• Transition from Primary to Secondary Schools in Malta;

• National Policy and strategy for the attainment of core competences in Primary Education;

• Supporting learners in Indep-endent Schools;

• Special Schools Reform.

All documents can be viewed and downloaded from the Ministries’ website. In addition, comments to the Special Schools Reform, currently in its consultation phase, can be sent either by post to: Special Schools Reform, Department for Student Services, Triq Gaetano Pace Forno, Hamrun or by email: [email protected]

Added to this, a Monitoring Board and a Pathway Development Board have been set up at MCAST to ensure greater accessibility and development of programmes for students with individual educational needs.

This Ministry would like to thank KNPD for its work in the field and will continue to work closely, as it has done in the past, to ensure the best future for all.

Mario Schiavone

Communications Coordinator

Ministry for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport