Many teachers and parents of children attending State schools seem to agree with the concepts of co-education and middle school but still have concerns about the way these systems will work out. Some teachers are worried students will show off in front of peers of the opposite sex, causing problems with discipline. They also worry they will be transferred due to the new middle school set-up.
Parents are preoccupied about their children mingling with older students of the opposite sex and about the repercussions that changing school might have.
Last week the government announced that, as from next year, co-education will start to be rolled out grade by grade across all State secondary schools, starting from Form 1. It also announced the creation of middle schools that will separate Form 1 and 2 students from Forms 3, 4 and 5.
The Malta Union of Teachers criticised the government for not waiting for the completion of a pilot project on co-education. The union stressed that teachers were not opposed to co-ed but were concerned about middle schools.
Teachers who spoke to Times of Malta confirmed this sentiment.
“Many agree with the concepts [of middle school and co-ed] but some feel they are not prepared,” according to a personal and social development teacher.
She believes middle school means having smaller schools and more individual attention paid to students.
“At the moment schools are large and students are often just a number,” she said adding that, however, some teachers were worried they would be transferred.
It would have been ideal if teachers were briefed over how the schools would be divided
Co-ed also came with concerns about problems that could arise in discipline and in handling of students. Some teachers felt they might not have the skills to teach mixed-gender classrooms, she said.
From the students’ point of view, middle school would help students move more smoothly from primary to senior school, according to a teacher of Maltese.
“It would have been ideal if teachers were briefed over how the schools would be divided before the news was made public,” she said.
Parent Joanne Vella, whose son is in Form 1, would also like to have a clearer picture of how the schools will be set up with the new middle school.
When it came to co-ed, her concern, and that of other parents she spoke to, mainly revolved around the age difference and not the actual mixing of boys and girls.
“What we worry about is, for example, having a Form 1 girl in a school with a Form 5 boy. It’s true they will be in different blocks, but we all know it’s easy to cross,” she said, adding that she agreed with mixed classes in principle.
After all, her son had been going to school with girls since kindergarten – in State schools students are mixed until Year 6 – and questioned why they were separated in Form 1 as, to him, it did not make sense.
Jeanette Cardona agreed. “I believe it is better to allow them to mingle rather than segregate them and create a mysterious atmosphere around the opposite sex,” she said, adding, however, that her 10-year-old daughter had been looking forward to be finally getting away from boys only to find out she would have to continue living with them.