Parents of children who attend Skolasajf felt “chilled to the core” when they heard about the three-year-old boy who wandered unnoticed out of a centre in Fgura and on to a busy main road.

“My child is in the same class as that boy who went missing. When I heard what had happened I was concerned; what if that had been my child,” a mother, who preferred not to be named, said.

The mother was voicing the concerns of other parents who were milling outside the Fgura primary school yesterday.

While they were happy with the service offered by the staff, many called for increased supervision.

On Monday, a little boy was found in the middle of Hompesch Road in Fgura after slipping out of the open school gates.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo has since initiated an internal inquiry to understand why the child was unaccompanied and why the gates had been left open. Despite this, the main gates of the Fgura school were found wide open yesterday and Times of Malta was able to enter the grounds, even though the ministry said it had taken measures to ensure the gates remained closed.

It could have been my son. Even just thinking about it gives me shivers

Asked about this a spokesman for the Foundation for Educational Services, which is responsible for the State summer school programme, said they were only open because the students were out on a field trip.

Once the students returned the gates were locked and parents made to stand outside. However, construction works on another wing of the school, a few metres from the main gate, meant a secondary access door was left open for the entire day.

Parents said this door had been left open for a number of days and some questioned whether this was where the child had exited from.

A similar situation was experienced at another Skolasajf in the San Ġwann primary school yesterday. When Times of Malta arrived on the premises at 11.30am the journalist was able to walk freely through all three main gates and into the main building where the classes are located.

However, when quizzed, both the parents and the school’s coordinator said the open doors and gates were the exception rather than the rule, as some of the children had yesterday returned from an outing and parents were allowed to pick them up a bit earlier than usual.

Additionally, construction works were being undertaken on the premises.

Parents at this school were also jolted by what had happened at Fgura.

“My son just turned three – it could have been him. Even just thinking about it gives me the shivers,” Kelly Smith Cordina told Times of Malta, as she picked up her son and seven-year-old daughter from the San Ġwann primary school yesterday.

However, Ms Smith Cordina said she was satisfied with the summer school service offered.

“The children are well taken care of. God forbid such a thing happens.”

“If a similar incident happened to my son, I don’t know how well I would have handled it – I would have been so angry,” said Sarah Johansen, whose five-year-old son attends the San Ġwann Skolasajf.

“Security is very important. Children need constant supervision. When you leave your child at a summer school, your mind is at rest that he is well taken care of.”

She added that when she first met some of the play workers, she was a bit concerned since many of them looked quite young to handle the responsibility of the job.

“However, I must say I’m happy with the service provided by the San Ġwann summer school,” she said.