Reception class 'would force all pupils to repeat a year'

The Labour Party's proposal to introduce a reception year between kindergarten and primary school meant that all five-year-olds would be forced to repeat a year irrespective of whether they needed to, Education Minister Louis Galea said yesterday.

He was speaking at a press conference called in reaction to the Labour Party's proposal of a reception year which was approved during Sunday's general conference.

"I don't agree that everyone should be held back by a year to ensure that no one falls behind in the first years of education. The (Labour) proposal, which was nicely wrapped in the words 'we'll introduce a new reception year or a transition year between the kindergarten and primary school phase', would have this negative effect. This is a repeating class, and not a reception class...

"Instead of utilising resources to provide educational support to those students who really need it, Labour's proposal does not distinguish between different needs and would be of detriment to the majority of the children who would be held back unnecessarily and forced to repeat a year," the minister insisted.

Dr Galea started by explaining that, following the approval of the proposal, he felt the need to call a press conference as it was his duty to explain to the public, particularly to parents, what would be of benefit and of detriment in the education field. Yesterday's press conference was only aimed at addressing the reception year proposal and other Labour proposals would be addressed in the future, he noted.

The majority of children were ready to move on to primary school after completing kindergarten. It was only the minority who lagged behind and needed special attention for a variety of reasons, he insisted.

On looking at the implications that the proposed reception year would have, Dr Galea said, it emerged that some 220 more classrooms and qualified teachers would be needed when some schools did not have space to host the extra classrooms.

There were also financial implications. The reception year would lead to an extra expense of about €4.2 million (Lm1.8 million) a year in salaries apart from other expenses. Parents who sent their children to private schools would have to fork out another year in tuition fees.

Dr Galea added that when the proposal was first made in Labour's official document Pjan Għal Bidu Ġdid, in July 2007, he reflected and discussed it with various educators. When discussed in Parliament last October he asked the Labour Party several questions about this proposal but did not receive any replies.

He stressed that the Nationalist government worked hard to ensure that children were given the best start in education as early as possible. Educational and social reforms ensured that children were given the educational support according to their individual needs and capabilities and did not try to make them all repeat a year.

He then listed examples of initiatives taken by the government which included the development of child-care centres in government schools, better psycho-social services, implementation of inclusive measures and the introduction of systems of continuous assessment and profiling of children from kindergarten level, among others.