Hundreds of nervous parents gathered at the Archbishop's Curia, in Floriana, yesterday, anxious to see whether their child's name was drawn to attend one of the Church's schools.

A total 3,266 applications were received but less than half would be drawn - 1,062 - over the next two days, which meant many parents would have to make alternative plans for their children's education.

Curia figures showed the number of applications for Church schools rose slightly this year compared to last year when 3,214 requests were submitted.

Giving a breakdown, the Curia said a total of 1,159 applications had been submitted for 257 places in kindergarten one. Of these, 91 applications were classified as special cases. There were 50 vacancies.

There were also 113 applications by siblings of pupils already in Church schools.

No applications were made for children residing in Church homes, leaving 116 places for those whose names will be drawn by lot.

For kindergarten two, there were 1,075 applications for 360 places.

These included 128 applications for 67 places in the special cases category, 124 siblings, and two applications from Church homes, leaving 167 places for names drawn by lot.

For year one, there were 1,032 applications for 445 places. These included 166 applications for 86 places reserved for special cases, 126 siblings and three applications from Church homes, leaving a remainder of 230.