Principal fears school may lose playground

Students from a Cospicua state primary school may end up without a playground because of plans to convert the area into a car park, the principal of St Margaret College said.

Sandro Spiteri explained how the asphalted square outside the front door of the Immaculate Conception Primary School, which forms part of college, was the property of the Cospicua council, which allowed it to be used as a playground.

The ground was already not safely sealed off from the main road and public passageways. Now, he feared the students will no longer have a place where to play or have sports lessons "because a car park was planned".

However, when contacted mayor Joseph Scerri denied the council owned the land, insisting that the land was earmarked as part of Dock 1 regeneration plans.

The plan was to convert the playground into a multi-storey car park and the council had pushed to ensure the top level would be converted into a recreational area.

Mr Spiteri was addressing a press conference organised outside the school by the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) in reaction to comments made by Mr Scerri in an article published recently in It-Torċa.

MUT president John Bencini said in the article the mayor spoke about the frequent turnover of teachers at the school, adding they were posted there as a form of "punishment" and consequently this was why all students failed the last Junior Lyceum examinations.

He said the union and teachers were "hurt" by the mayor's comments, adding that some teachers at the school had been there for more than 10 years.

Mr Bencini said education was not a "one size fits all equation" and it was unfair to compare students from an area with social problems, like Cospicua, with other students.

One had to understand these teachers faced a difficult reality and sometimes even forked out money to buy bread for the children.

Mr Spiteri said the mayor had "already recognised in writing that he had been misinterpreted" in the article and the school now had his full collaboration to move forward in the interest of students.

He said this summer the school had set up an action committee, made up of stakeholder representatives, to go into the details of the problem (that led to students failing the junior lyceum exams) and recommend solutions including changes to the curriculum. These will be submitted by January.

He said the curriculum had to be tailored for the school and stressed that it should be "different", not "easier".

One teacher, Paul Pulis, said most parents supported the teachers but there were a few who caused problems and the comments of the mayor did not help matters.

The mayor told The Times that he recognised the problems in the area and in the education system. However, he never intended to "point fingers" with his comments.