State schools were facing a growing number of foreign students who did not understand Maltese and English but courses tailored to help them were full, Malta Union of Teachers’ president Kevin Bonello said.

Despite the rising trend, he added, the government had no projections of how many children from different countries were entering the educational system.

Projections should be made at least three months before the beginning of each scholastic year, Mr Bonello said during a press conference.

The government should also verify the proficiency of students because the MUT had reports of students whose parents claimed they knew English but in fact they could only speak a few words.

There were children waiting to attend the courses in Maltese and English offered by the government. In some cases, parents were not sending their children to school because they could not understand what was being said in class, Mr Bonello said.

When contacted, a spokesman for the Education Ministry acknowledged that this was a growing problem, adding it was not limited to Malta.

He pointed out that the government had already held the induction course for students who did not understand Maltese and English

“The number of teachers and language support assistants will be more than doubled over the coming weeks in a bid to cater for the overwhelming demand from children from European countries and beyond,” the spokesman said.

Recent figures show that children from about 35 countries attend government schools.

Mr Bonello was speaking about the beginning of the scholastic year.

As has become tradition at this time of year, he listed the issues being raised by teachers.

The inclusion of students “remains a headache”, he said. In most cases, inclusion was working but there were some schools where it was not.

“Children with certain health conditions and disabilities are not learning and are holding back their classmates. A solution must be found for these few, extreme cases,” he insisted.

He said the government had launched a research project into inclusion in schools and the union was looking forward to the results that were expected in December.

Scholastic concerns

• School transport experienced the usual problems. Children were picked up at 7am when they started school at 8.30am. The problem was lack of operators.

• Laptops given to teachers some eight years ago had become obsolete. MUT suggested giving teachers funds to decide what technology they needed in class.

• Electoral promises did not materialise and these included sabbatical leave and addressing the discrimination regarding maternity leave for women working in State schools.

• New subjects introduced at the Malta College of Art, Science and Technology were not accompanied by new material and resources.

• Guidelines on how to deal with allegations of sexual abuse are still missing.

• MUT monitoring the outcome of the recently rolled out co-education system and the pilot project in which students were given tablets. It was too early to comment.