Several measures introduced in schools as a response to COVID-19 should be retained once the pandemic is over, such as online parents' days, a survey of educators has suggested.

"Respondents think many of them should either be retained or kept with some changes to make them more effective and applicable to their situation," the Malta Union of Teachers, which carried out the survey, said.  

The survey was conducted between April 29 and May 10 and drew 328 educators.

The union said many of the new practices proved to be very popular with respondents. These include: 

• Virtual schools for students with a long-term illness (93.3% agree this measure should be kept) 
• The requirement of medical certificates for students of all ages certifying they are fit for school following sickness (85.1%) 
• The use of an online platform (84.5%) 
• Recorded lessons on Teleskola as supplementary resources to students (83.9%) 
• Single groups in kindergarten as opposed to double groups in some classes (83.5%) 
• Online parents’ days (81.2%) 
• Staggered arrival/dismissal of students (78.3%) 
• The grab and go breakfast for students attending Breakfast Club (71.5%) 

Other practices mentioned by educators that should be kept include hygiene practices, the reduction in the number of students in class, use of technology particularly for meetings and increased security.

On the other hand, practices that should be discarded include recorded lessons for option subjects and selection of subjects instead of lessons in person (68.8% think they should be discarded).

Other practices had mixed reactions, including home-class grouping in Secondary schools, staggered breaks and online records of student attendance for all lessons in Secondary schools instead of online records once in the morning only.  

MUT President Marco Bonnici said that teachers were often incorrectly portrayed as opposing and hostile to all changes when this couldn’t be further from the truth. The survey showed that educators were open to changes if these were reasonable and appropriate for schools and when educators were involved in decisions.