Senior vice-president of the MUT Marco Bonnici said that the start of the government schools' scholastic year was “smoother” than usual.

Some 31,513 pupils returned to their classrooms this morning, adding to frustrations felt during the morning rush.

Many people were concerned about the reopening of government school doors due to the added congestion to our already chaotic roads, and according to reports heavier traffic was experienced this morning in major roads and intersections.

No reports were made by teachers on the traffic situation this morning, said Mr Bonnici. He said that due to the general congestion on Maltese roads he believes that teachers, school staff and students alike thought ahead so as not to fall behind on the first day.

Turning to whether there were any incidents unrelated to traffic, he said that “overall this year was smoother when compared to previous years.” Turning to the type of issues that have taken place in previous starts of the scholastic year, Mr Bonnici said that generally problems relate to construction works and maintenance not ready in time, teachers coming to school only to find that their colleagues have taken their lessons for the day and interactive white boards not being installed in time.  He continued by saying that this year there were very few incidents where designated smart boards were not installed and that overall he was pleased.