SMS alert if child is absent from school

Schoolchildren attending the Birkirkara primary can forget skiving because their parents will be receiving an SMS alert if they fail to show up.

Parents will receive information about absentee students in real time, as opposed to the previous snail mail system which informed them two days after their children missed class.

This technologically more advanced way of combating truancy was introduced at the beginning of this scholastic year at the Santa Tereża College primary.

This is just one of the technologies introduced at the school. During a visit by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, college principal Frank Fabri explained that with the use of webcams and the creation of websites and blogs, the school had also introduced the concept of a virtual classroom.

On certain occasions, parents can join in classroom activities through live streaming, enabling them to follow and understand what their children were learning.

And students can forget feigning sick, because they will now be able to follow their lessons from home.

Teachers at this school were given a budget with which they could shape their own classroom's colour schemes, curtains and general aesthetics. There has also been an increase in the amount of interactive whiteboards installed at the school.

Dr Gonzi said these technological upgrades would facilitate the reform related to the transition from primary to secondary schooling.

"Removing streaming and introducing mixed ability classrooms will allow you to learn from each another without being separated, and this new technology is a tool that will help you succeed," Dr Gonzi told the students.