Adult students attempting to whet their thirst for knowledge through the government’s Lifelong Learning Programme have to do so in a dilapidated classroom with rainwater leaking heavily through the ceiling.

Our classroom is never cleaned and unhygenic

A furniture restoration student contacted The Sunday Times claiming he and his classmates were fed up with having to spend 15 minutes brushing pools of water out of their classroom in the Ospizio, Floriana, before their two-hour lesson could even begin.

The student, who wished to remain anonymous, said the unusually high volume of rainfall last month had left the classroom in an appalling state, with water leaking through the ceiling.

“We have old personal furniture with us that can easily be damaged by the water, not to mention that our classroom is never cleaned and really unhygienic,” the student said.

In the current academic year, 13,213 students are enrolled in more than 200 different adult courses offered through the Directorate for Lifelong Learning. Most courses, including furniture restoration, cost €35 for Maltese and EU citizens and €70 for non-EU citizens. Seventy-six different classes take place at the Ospizio in 37 subjects.

Built by the knights, the Ospizio (‘Hospice’) was used for a long time to treat the sick and dying.

When contacted, an Education Ministry spokesman admitted the directorate was aware that the recent inclement weather had damaged the roofing membrane.

The directorate does not pay for the use of classroom facilities and is not responsible for the maintenance of them, but the spokesman said it has liaised with its Ospizio co-ordinator and patching of the damaged roofing membrane is expected to take place this week, weather permitting.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.