Students whose families cannot afford the price of cultural school trips are helped to go along so as not to be socially excluded, Education Minister Dolores Cristina said in Parliament on Tuesday. If a head of school failed to afford such help he or she would be given a directive by the minister herself.

Mrs Cristina said that in some cases the school helped even with uniform expenses. There were also voluntary organisations that helped in such cases. Asked by Opposition Whip Joe Mizzi specifically about a girl who was afraid to go to school because her shoes did not correspond to the uniform, she said she was sure that if the parents had approached the head of school and explained the circumstances, sensitivity and sensibility would have prevailed.

Mrs Cristina asked to be informed if there was any case where this did not hold true.