Effort to boost supervision outside school hours
Worried parents had reported their concerns
The education authorities will be launching a call for education staff and former teachers to supervise children dropped off at public schools before opening hours, following scathing criticism by the Ombudsman over lack of such supervision.
The Education Ministry’s initial reaction to the Ombudsman’s report was to say it was making “every effort” to find a solution but that it could make no commitment that it would find one before the new scholastic year opens on September 26.
However, a ministry spokesman yesterday told The Times that a call would be issued in the coming days to recruit retired teachers and education staff to supervise children who are dropped off at school early or who wait for school transport in the afternoon. The idea is to recruit enough people in time to take on this role in as many as 60 schools.
This news comes after the Ombudsman slammed the education authorities for failing to supervise children in these circumstances at the Mġarr primary school, pointing out that they were inviting a “horrible accident”. The situation persisted for an entire scholastic year after, in February 2010, the Malta Union of Teachers instructed members not to open the main gate of the school before 8.30 a.m. because no supervision was available inside the school.
Worried parents reported their concerns but nothing happened until they turned to the Ombudsman. It turns out, however, that Mġarr is not the only school with this problem.
Concerned parents approached Nationalist MP and former Transport Minister Ċensu Galea as well as Labour’s education spokesman and MP Evarist Bartolo to complain of similar problems in different schools. Mr Bartolo pointed out that the situation existed in schools in Sliema and the south, including private and Church schools.
He acknowledged that there may be no “one-size-fits-all solution” but criticised the “unacceptable” length of time it took the Education Ministry to come up with a solution.
“I understand the present complications because of work conditions but no stone should be left unturned when it comes to children being at risk.”
He also criticised the Mġarr primary school, saying it could have taken the initiative, with the support of the ministry, local councils and the school council, to collaborate with parents who were willing to supervise the students.
Mr Galea said if parents volunteered to supervise students, the “tricky” problem might be resolved temporarily but it might not work in the long term.
“I’m against letting students roam around alone in the school premises,” he said, stressing that a possible solution was to shorten the waiting time between the start of school and the children’s pick-up or drop-off time. “I remember this was a regular problem when I was responsible for transport.”
The ministry spokesman said that over the last few months, the Directorate for Educational Services had tried to tackle the problem and held consultations with stakeholders, including parents and head teachers. Although transport management had improved, the directorate was aware this was not the only solution as schools had different issues, he said.
He insisted the DES already offered staff the possibility of providing supervision in some state schools before and after official school hours.
This service is performed by assistant heads, teachers, school technicians, learning support assistants, kindergarten assistants and employees in administrative posts, on a voluntary basis against payment.