As from next month, the Maria Al Batool School in Corradino, Paola, is going to open its doors to the first group of students who, having passed their Junior Lyceum exams, wish to continue receiving their secondary education at the school.
This was announced by the school's headmistress, Maria Camilleri, when addressing guests attending the ceremony at the end of the scholastic year. Education Minister Louis Galea had called her personally to inform her that he had granted the licence to the school, she said.
Set up in November 1977 on the initiative of Imam Mohammed El Saadi in his capacity as president of the Maltese Islamic Welfare Fund, the school is housed at the Islamic Centre in Corradino.
The centre also houses the main mosque in Malta. Mr El Saadi and Ms Camilleri, a former MP and a Roman Catholic, worked hand in hand to promote and work out the idea of a school where Muslim children growing up in Malta could be taught Arabic and the Islamic religion.
The idea was successful and today the school, which is licensed by the Education Department and follows the National Curriculum with an Islamic ethos, caters for around 130 children, between Kindergarten and primary classes.
The children attending the school come from Libya, Palestine, Mauritius, Russia, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Algeria, Poland, Venezuela and Britain, apart from Malta. The school population will increase, now that it is to offer secondary education.
Through this expansion, students will be able to continue their educational instruction in Arabic and the Koran while following the national Maltese secondary educational curriculum and in the same environment to which they have become accustomed.
While Muslim teachers are responsible for teaching Arabic and Islamic doctrine, nine non-Muslim teachers cater for subjects like mathematics, English, Maltese, social studies, arts and crafts, information technology and physical education.
This set-up, a Christian headmistress and Christian teachers caring for the education of Muslim students, probably makes Maria Al Batool School the only one of its kind.
This year's annual graduation and prize-giving ceremony opened with a rendering of the school's hymn by the student choir and a reading from the Koran by one of the students. The choir then sang three songs in English, Sneezy whale, I have an itch and Ants in my pants, and two in Arabic, Adeb Atta'am and Ashuhur Alaslamiya.
A presentation entitled "Maria Al Batool School... Success and Beauty in Diversity" followed, after which Wagdi Nashnoush, secretary general of the World Islamic Call Society's Malta branch, addressed the gathering.
The granting of the secondary level licence to the school was an added cause for celebration, Mr Nashnoush said. "Maria Al Batool School is a model of tolerance, mutual existence and co-operation among cultures and faiths where Muslim and Christian teachers work together in an atmosphere of love and brotherhood."
The school, a charitable cultural institution, is not a profit-making organisation. Its income from token school fees only covers 40 per cent of the budget. The remaining 60 per cent comes from a contribution of the World Islamic Call Society and donations by generous Muslim benefactors.
Regular, fixed financial support is needed to enable the school to continue its noble mission, Mr Nashnoush said. "Since the school is Maltese and most of its students are Maltese, as are the majority of its staff, since the school offers a special educational service, which is not available either in government or in private schools, and since the school offers a spiritual service like Church schools, we therefore kindly request the Maltese government to subsidise this school as it subsidises Church schools."
He went on to thank Dr Galea and his ministry for their assistance in the school. "We hope they will complete their assistance by subsidising the school."
Mr Nashnoush then thanked the headmistress, teachers and all those involved in the school, including the board of trustees, all benefactors and Dr Saad El Shlimani, the Secretary of the Libyan People's Bureau in Malta.
"The World Islamic Call Society, which works hard to help Muslims all over the world to spread Islamic culture, resists extremism and fanaticism and works to enhance peaceful co-existence and tolerance among cultures and faiths. (The society) will continue its support to develop (the school) and enhance its successes, enabling it to fulfil its noble cultural mission," he said.
Ms Camilleri, in her report, spoke of the progress achieved by the students and plans for the future. Through the help of Mr Nashnoush the school now has a computer lab and through the help of Abdulrazak Zmirli the school also acquired an interactive board.
The school is committed to develop in its young pupils the attitudes, skills and knowledge that are necessary for leading positive lives as contributing members of the Muslim community and also society at large.
Ms Camilleri also appealed for the school to be subsidised by Government like other Church schools in Malta. "By providing such support, the government would be doing a great service to the children and especially to those with special needs, who find it difficult to develop basic skills.
"If we really believe that 'every child matters', we have to remove all barriers to learning and include all children - children with special needs, children with different cultural backgrounds, children embracing different faiths - irrespective of their school, whether state, Church or independent."
She thanked Imam El Saadi and other patrons for their support and praised the staff for "working so heartily and with great dedication to mould the school into one of the most remarkable in Malta".
She also thanked Dr Carmel Borg, Dean of the Faculty of Education University of Malta; Professor Peter Mayo, lecturer; Victor Agius, assistant head at Maria Regina Junior Lyceum; Anthony Degiovanni, director of Further Studies and Adult Education; Carmel Busuttil, assistant director, Independent Schools; Carmel Sammut, education officer; and Mr Bezzina, principal education officer.
She then invited Carmel Abela, MP, Opposition spokesman on education and youth, to speak. Mr Abela praised the school for its initiatives and efforts, and congratulated the students.
After the distribution of prizes, the school choir sang the Maltese national anthem.