School on Wednesdays as college breaks with tradition

St Aloysius' College students will no longer have school on Saturdays instead of Wednesdays following a decision by the Jesuit Order to break with the centuries-old tradition.

A trademark of Jesuit colleges around the world, the mid-week break will be abolished from Malta in September 2007, 100 years since the Birkirkara college's opening in 1907.

Having been introduced as a learning tool in the 16th century it has gradually been abolished from colleges in Europe, North and South America and Asia, with Malta being one of the few countries where it still stands.

St Aloysius' College rector Fr Patrick Magro told The Times yesterday that family life was the main reason why the school administration, following a decision by the Jesuit Province, would shift the Wednesday break to the weekend, starting from next scholastic year.

"At a time when family members spend less time together because we all lead very busy and complicated lives, we thought that school on Saturdays was disrupting the family's routine. Spending the whole weekend together is more important than it has ever been. Besides, when students are at home on Wednesday, those mothers who have to work to help the family cannot be with their children," Fr Magro said.

However, the decision was not that easy and clear cut. "St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, had introduced the mid-week holiday having realised its benefits for revision purposes, sport and extracurricular activities. Its good pedagogical purpose still stands," the rector said.

A recent questionnaire gauging parents' and teachers' views on the issue revealed an equal divide between those in favour of the mid-week holiday and those who favoured the change.

Debate on whether the mid-week holiday should be retained or abolished is anything but new. Around 25 years ago, in fact, a similar survey had shown a similar split.

"The family issue which is predominant now, was much less of an issue at the time. This shows that society has evolved and we cannot be indifferent to that reality."

Fr Magro said the college, which has 1,100 students from Form I to Sixth Form, would during the coming year reflect on how to better reorganise the week, including a possible re-organisation of the lesson schedule and break time.

The rector said that though Wednesdays were usually dedicated to sport and extracurricular activities, these would not come to an end when Wednesday becomes a normal school day.