Not all schools have learnt safety lessons after unsecured goalposts fell on a boy and killed him a decade ago.

The 14-year-old was playing football at his Ħamrun school when he hung on to the crossbar and the posts went over, causing him severe head injuries.

But an inspection of schools in April revealed “at least three” dangerous sets of goalposts, a ministry spokesman said.

One of them, at the Kirkop primary school, was tied to the wall behind it with a piece of blue string, “just in case it toppled over”.

The area was closed off immediately and the potentially dangerous goalposts will be replaced, he said, adding that over the years this had been done several times.

About 80 schools were identified as below average and in need of major work

The Kirkop hazard was spotted and photographed during a tour of schools by officials checking areas in need of maintenance – and it was not just football pitches.

They came across corridors with cracked tiles and crumbling walls. In the Fgura primary, the officials also took pictures of exposed rusty reinforcing bars in the ceiling of one of the toilets.

These are examples of faults that will be fixed using a €15 million fund that will go towards maintaining 107 government schools over the next three years. This summer, works on some 94 schools have started.

“The idea behind such a large investment in the school maintenance programme is to reduce the huge disparities between schools in terms of their structures and environment,” the spokesman said.

“During the evaluation exercise in April, requested by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, about 80 schools were identified as below average and in need of major maintenance works.”

Thirty schools were found to be in a state of major neglect.

A considerable portion of the works can only be carried out during the summer so as not to disrupt lessons. However, in winter, there will still be work carried out in areas that do not affect students, such as on façades and boundary walls.

So far, Santa Clara in St Andrew’s, which is being turned into a co-ed school, tops the list of those in need of maintenance, with works estimated to cost in the region of €500,000.

Times of Malta went to see how the works were progressing. School headmis-tress Mary Rose Leone and precincts officer Carmel Sciberras said that one of the most expensive elements was the resurfacing of the ring road which went around the school.

The project also includes repainting all rooms, renovation of the stonework around the school’s 800 windows, fencing and replacing the rubber flooring of the gym.

College head Maria Ciappara said the school was gearing itself up for its new future with a co-ed system that will be phased in from the next scholastic year.

“We are looking forward to this challenge,” she said, adding that it was great to see so much investment going into schools.