The Nationalist Party on Wednesday welcomes the launch of the Digital Education Strategy, which aligns with its own vision for the education sector.

The PN has repeatedly affirmed that one of its key priorities for this sector is Digital Education, in line with the European Digital Education Plan, which establishes two strategic priorities to create a shared vision of high-quality, inclusive, and accessible digital education across Europe.

Accordingly, and in line with the main priorities - fostering the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem and enhancing digital skills and competences relevant to the digital transition - any strategy that strengthens digital learning in schools further consolidates the importance of digital and technological elements within the local education system. It is essential that this be introduced from an early age, the PN said.

To effectively implement this Digital Education Strategy, the government must first ensure that teachers and educators are given full access to existing digital tools, continuous training, and, above all, targeted assistance.

Nevertheless, the PN said it is concerned that many State schools - and even Church and Independent schools - do not have sufficient assistance or human resources available to give digital education the attention it deserves in today's world. Therefore, it is essential that the implementation of this Strategy be grounded in practical measures that have already been adopted successfully in a number of local schools.

In light of this, the PN asks whether the Department for Digital Literacy has enough human resources to drive forward the change we need to see, and thus ensure the effective implementation of the proposed Strategy. It is evident that past attempts have not succeeded as intended, to the extent that many teachers and educators have stopped using digital tools (including tablets) in classrooms due to various reasons, chief among them being issues with the school distribution systems, which often fail to foster a truly digital environment.

Therefore, the government must address existing technical issues in advance, prepare for potential future challenges, and ensure that every school is equipped with a robust system that guarantees consistent and adequate internet access across all classrooms.

Issues extending beyond the classroom and school setting must also be tackled, particularly those related to support from home for students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, especially those who faced challenges since tablets were first introduced in the classroom.

At the same time, the Government must ensure that teachers and educators are given greater flexibility to implement digital learning as proposed. This requires the existing syllabi to be reviewed, updated, and/or reduced to allow more space for the transversal skills demanded by today's digital learning environment. It must also be ensured that teachers and educators are provided with wide-ranging support to collaborate effectively with IT and peripatetic teachers.

The PN said it believes that, for this Strategy to be fully implemented, the country must make long-term investments. Therefore, a specialised school for Digital Education should be considered; digital learning must be fully integrated into the curriculum; digital literacy programmes for parents and guardians must be strengthened; and the importance of ensuring every child has digital citizenship should be given greater visibility, so that they grow up to be responsible members of the online community.

The statement was signed by Justi Schembri, Shadow Minister for Education and Crafts