Justice is for all

The interesting letter and article by Sandro Spiteri, Principal of St Margaret's College (The Sunday Times, December 7), both referred to mixed ability teaching being successfully practised by Church girls' schools (and independent schools).

On both occasions he failed to acknowledge a boys' Church school of over 1,000 students in his own precincts: De La Salle College. The schools of the Christian Brothers in Malta are inclusive, with mixed ability classes, and our students obtain SEC results that make us proud.

Our 550 students in primary school benefit from a non-selective go-through education. And yes, it is not just a utopian dream.

However, I insist that it works only because experience has shown us that we need to be creative, resourceful, persistent and, above all, realistic when it comes to the running of our schools. Miracles do happen, but we have invested time, money and energy into reaching each and every student "entrusted to our care" in order to fulfil our mission - the educational service of the young.

So we have subject teaching which gives class teachers the opportunity to meet regularly among themselves and with the head; we have set up and financed a system for early intervention and support teaching, because we do not believe in closing our eyes to the needs of our students; we have a dyslexia unit; and our college was the first on the island to establish the post of INCO (inclusion co-ordinator), for our LSAs outnumber class teachers.

Transition is also given a priority: Year 6 and Form 1 teachers meet regularly, they are encouraged to do peer teaching, and we attempt to streamline the content and methodology of our teaching and learning.

There are still changes we would like to make: smaller classes; more complementary teachers; a broader curriculum with an emphasis on creativity, and the ability to engage different talents. Our standards are high, our principles are sound, and we offer quality education to our students, as Dr Grima rightly demands.

We are, after all, accountable to the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education.

However, it is shameful that leaders of Church and independent schools have repeatedly been told that the other directorate - the Directorate for Educational Services - is not there for us.

If educational reform is a matter of social justice and ethical considerations, how can we have an education system only half of which (one directorate) operates for one-third of all Maltese children? Justice is for all.