Promising athletic students who want to forge a career in sports can train at a specialised secondary school from the next scholastic year without forfeiting their academic education.

The National School of Sports was intended to be a centre of excellence for athletics, offering students the opportunity to follow their ambitions and succeed, said the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sports, Clyde Puli, who provided details of the initiative announced in the Budget 2012.

The school was aimed at training promising athletes while offering them a “high-quality” academic education that would allow them to continue their post-secondary studies and choose another career if they decided to, he said.

They would still have compulsory classes, according to the curriculum, but they would also have time dedicated specifically to sports. The timetable of the lessons would be flexible enough to accommodate commitments to international competitions and training, which would be carried out during school hours.

While having its own identity and administration, the school would be operating from the San Benedittu College, near the sports complex of Kirkop, to share the “excellent” sports and educational resources that already existed, Mr Puli said.

It would, therefore, have access to an IT laboratory, library and other equipment that is standard in mainstream schools.

Mr Puli said the school would be set up after the appointment of experts to analyse best practices in similar institutions in Italy, France, Germany, Australia and Canada.

Students eligible to study and train in the school could be both male and female, aged between 11 and 15, and excelling in various disciplines. They would be chosen by a school board, which would analyse their potential, together with other sports associations.

The National School of Sports would be developing talent from a young age, Mr Puli said, listing the government’s initiatives to train national athletes who would continue to do Malta proud.