Updated 3.15pm, adds Church statement

Thousands of schoolchildren donned their uniforms and returned to school on Wednesday.

Government primary and secondary schools, grouping almost 30,000 pupils, and most private schools opened their gates to the scholastic year 2023-24 in a day characterised by autumn weather and drying roads after an overnight downpour.

The roads were noticeably more congested than usual in some areas with a gradual build-up also noticed earlier in the week when some of the schools opened and teachers returned to prepare their classes. Some motorists, however, reported traffic to be lighter.

School transport was made free of charge five years ago in a bid to reduce traffic congestion related to schools. Hundreds took up the offer and at the time then Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said there were 3,000 fewer cars on roads at certain times. 

The CEO of Transport Malta in a video message said the authority would do all it could to ease traffic congestion. He said road users would be consulted on various measures in the coming weeks. He also urged motorists to give way to school transport and to consider using the roads during off-peak hours, where possible.

The current education minister, Clifton Grima, visited some of the schools as they prepared for reopening earlier this week, thanking teachers for their input in initial work on a new strategy for education so that 'the education of the present is given the format for the future'. 

Church statement

In a statement in the afternoon, the Church said its schools had opened its doors to a new scholastic year with around 17,000 students and 3,000 educators getting together in one of its 55 schools at kindergarten, primary, secondary, and sixth form levels.

These include some 2,000 students and 140 educators who were attending these schools for the first time.

School maintenance, the church said, continued throughout the summer and educators continued with their training, some of them abroad to keep up to date with new teaching methods.

It said that in the past days, two meetings were held between staff and auxiliary bishop Joseph Galea-Curmi.