School councils to be made more effective

Changes are to be made to school council regulations in the coming weeks with a view to strengthening them and to enable them to function more efficiently, Education Minster Louis Galea said yesterday.

He said elections to the councils would start being held in January as from next year so that parents would have the chance to become accustomed to the schools and other parents.

Councils, he added, would be elected for a two-year term to give them more time to implement their programmes, he said.

Dr Galea was addressing a national conference on the theme "Let's strengthen what has been achieved together for the good of our children", which was one of the activities organised by the Office of Review to mark European Day for Parents and Schools.

The conference at the New Dolmen, Qawra, placed a focus on co-operation between parents and schools.

The various presentations made during the conference placed an accent on parent education, effective communication between parents and schools, and the parents role in the implementation of the curriculum.

Office of Review director Frans Borg said that the level of co-operation between parents and schools was increasing.

He said the Association of School Councils should work to set up a forum for parents with the aim of making their views heard better and respected.

Mr Borg said that the school programmes Hilti and Id f'Id of the Foundation for Educational Services has placed among the first five projects entered for the ALCUIN Award finals, a prestigious contest for European countries organised by the European Parents Association.

Around 20 countries are taking part in the contest.

Hilti and Id f'Id after-school hours programmes help students progress socially and academically with the help of their parents.