Sexual and relationship educators in state schools have complained to a parliamentary committee that they lack the time and resources to do their job as effectively as they would like to.
Four teachers were appointed peripatetic sexuality and relationship education (SRE) teachers after the post was created last September as a division of personal and social development education (PSD).
The SRE programme adopts a holistic, school-based approach targeting children, parents and teachers, both in primary and secondary schools. The topics cover issues including sexually transmitted diseases, dating, birth control, teenage pregnancy, the internet and sexual identity.
Four schools, two secondary and two primary, are being tackled this year, targeting year six and form three pupils.
The four teachers work for two days on the SRE programme and continue to perform their duties as personal and social development (PSD) teachers in their respective schools on the other three days.
Two of the teachers, Genevive Abela and Kenneth Camilleri told the Social Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives that they required more material resources and support in order to be more effective.
Being peripatetic teachers, the four SRE teachers are each entitled to a laptop computer, but although they have been asking for them since their appointment, they still don't have them.
SRE work was constrained by the limited number of hours - 10 per week - allocated to it. Thus, only a limited number of schools could participate in the programme.
The lack of a fixed premises also reduced the efficiency of SRE work since this made the teachers difficult to contact and not easily accessible. Neither did they have any storage space for resources and there were constraints to planning and the holding of meetings with relevant people.
At present the SRE team was developing the lesson plans and material at the ICT department. This caused great inconvenience to the ICT staff and the SRE team alike. Moreover, the premises was to be used for the training of other teachers so it would not be available in the future.
Committee chairman Helen D'Amato has prepared two parliamentary questions which she read out during the committee meeting last Monday asking if these teachers could have a laptop, unlimited internet access and their own premises.
She is sending a transcript of the meeting to Education Minister Louis Galea, asking him to distribute it to heads of departments as necessary.
The transcript was also to be sent to members of the committee and the teachers themselves, from whom she was asking for a brief memorandum on the most salient points.
Once she will have everybody's memo, she will prepare a collective memorandum to give to the minister.