A large number of students from the Boys' Secondary School in Sta Venera, walked to the Ministry of Education in Floriana today to protest over plans for their school, the former Umberto Calosso, to be closed in October.

Education Minister Dolores Cristina, who met a delegation of the students, said they would be transferred to other schools where the environment was much better.

She explained that Umberto Calosso had originally been built to serve as a brewery and was unsuitable as a modern school.

The minister assured the students that they would stay together in their respective classes. Next week, they will be taken on familiarisation trips to the schools which they will be transferred to in October.

The process will also be explained in meetings for parents.

Teachers and staff in the Sta Venera school have been invited to state where they prefer to work from the next scholastic year.

The minister also told the students that it would have been better had they requested the meeting before holding the protest.

The students were then taken back to school in transport laid on by the ministry.

The ministry in a statement denied that the old school would become a centre for illegal migrants.