Nine out of every 10 State schools in Malta are in dire need of maintenance after falling into a state of disrepair, according to Education Minister Evarist Bartolo.

Architects are assessing the repairs needed by the 84 schools across Malta and their expected cost, with their report likely to be completed within three weeks. Gozo’s 12 State schools are being assessed separately.

Maintenance works range from peeling paint to major structural work for some buildings.

Some have run-down sports facilities, laboratories with missing or dysfunctional sinks and primary schools with inadequate flooring for young children. Others lack adequate security.

Mr Bartolo accused the previous administration of having focused on the construction of new schools to the detriment of existing ones.

“We need to find a balance. Anything else would be unjust. You can’t prioritise some schools at the expense of others,” he said.

The minister expected to have a clearer picture of school building requirements within a month. The Government would then decide which schools needed building, how much maintenance for existing schools would cost and total finances for the next five years.

Sourcing the necessary money would be difficult, Mr Bartolo conceded, with the Government-run Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools already €73 million in the red (see box). The severe lack of maintenance funds had driven parents at some schools to organise fundraisers to pay for necessary works, he said.

“I’m all in favour of this but it should be voluntary, not something that replaces State funding.”

Yesterday’s maintenance audit announcement capped off a busy week for Mr Bartolo, following announcements that a scholastic code of discipline was to be updated and a Government decision to gradually develop Malta’s first co-ed secondary school at Pembroke.