The management of the Guardian Angel Secondary Education Resource Centre is to be replaced and new standard operating procedures will be introduced in line with recommendations by a fact-finding board, the Ministry of Education said on Thursday.

It issued a statement hours after Times of Malta reported how parents of children with severe disabilities who attend the state-run resource centre in Hamrun were being kept in the dark about the outcome of a report into shortcomings at the school because the government was claiming that the document and its recommendations were confidential.

Parents had complained that they did not know if the staffing concerns they raised earlier this year had been validated and if anything would be done to address the situation. 

In February, following concerns raised by parents, Education Minister Clifton Grima appointed a fact-finding board to look into the matter and provide recommendations.  

Times of Malta, as well as parents, asked for a copy of the report or, at least, its recommendations. A freedom of information request was also filed.

Both were directed to the reply given by the minister to a parliamentary question in which Nationalist MP Graziella Galea asked about the outcome of the fact-finding exercise.

In the PQ's reply, Grima said: “The fact-finding report is confidential… the board’s recommendations will be evaluated and implemented where necessary.”

On Thursday the ministry listed the recommendations in a statement and said a new management for the school was being introduced.    

Among them was a call for an immediate total change in the management of the school.

The board also called for:

The introduction of a new mechanism on the deployment of workers who are also relatives; 

• An adjustment of ratios, leading to an increase in staff;
• Improved training for all educators in the centre including team-building and interventions by other professionals as required;
• Streamlining of the initial assessment of pupils and the drafting of a holistic profile for each;
• Better reporting by the management of the centre to one line manager.  

The ministry said the new management will take over on April 29 , with its priority being the introduction of measures as recommended by the Fact-Finding board. 

Standard operating procedures, policies and measures will also be adjusted as recommended.  

Lack of specially trained staff and resources

Last February parents spoke out about the lack of specially trained staff and resources to cater for the specific needs of students at the school, which forms part of the Dun Ġorġ Preca College that caters for pupils aged between 11 and 16.

Galea, the PN’s inclusion spokesperson, questioned whether the school would be given the necessary support following the report and asked who would check if the required actions are taken. 

“How can the parents put their mind at rest that their children are receiving the appropriate education? What improvements will be happening for the next scholastic year? These and other questions need to be addressed and answered, if the well-being of these children is actually a priority for this government,” she said.

The ministry on Thursday said it would ensure that the centre's new leadership had the necessary support and resources to push the necessary changes through. 

Children kept out of school

Concerned parents had described how their children had to spend weeks or months out of school either because they were suspended for challenging behaviour or because they feared for their children’s health and safety if they were sent to the centre. They said this was also leading to the burnout of dedicated staff.

Commissioner for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rhoda Garland said the commission received several reports from parents of students at Guardian Angel and agreed that the centre had a lack of LSEs and therapeutic professionals to meet the needs of children with challenging behaviour.

Unrelated to this, the police are investigating allegations of physical abuse by three educators on students with severe disabilities at the same centre. The alleged abuse, which dates back to early last year, involved spraying the non-verbal students with “a liquid” and hitting one student on the head, according to sources. The educators have been suspended.

The Education Ministry had previously issued a statement in which it denied that there is a staffing problem at the centre, including LSEs.

Grima said the resources requested by the resource centre were always granted and the student-to-educator ratio was according to policy. This was one class teacher and three LSEs for eight students.