What's happening with Wardija Resource Centre, petitioners ask

The mother of a girl with a disability has started a parliamentary petition calling for transparency about the planned future of the Wardija Resources Centre.

“Wardija Resource Centre is no longer listed as an enrolment option for students with disability aged 16 through to 22. While assurances have been made that the centre will ‘remain open’, the removal of any student intake raises serious and reasonable doubts. A school without enrolment is, in practice, a school being quietly phased out. We cannot accept vague assurances while the pathway these students rely on is systematically dismantled,” Rebecca Scicluna wrote in the petition that has attracted almost 700 signatures so far.

Scicluna explained that while her daughter does not go to Wardija – as she attends a different resource centre – hearing about the situation at Wardija worried her.

“Even if it doesn’t affect my daughter right now, it still affects students, families and the options that will exist in the future for students with disabilities,” she said.

Scicluna expressed “deep concern” over the future of the Dun Manwel Attard Resource Centre in Wardija and the broader implications for students with disabilities aged 16 and over.

“The absence of clear, accessible educational options for students with disability beyond the age of 16 is alarming. It signals a regression in inclusive education and creates a real risk of these young people being left without meaningful learning opportunities, appropriate supports or pathways to independence. Even more troubling is the implied shift toward institutionalisation or inappropriate placements for teenagers and young adults with disability once they reach a certain age,” the petition reads.

A long-standing issue

The long-standing issue surrounding Wardija began a year ago, when parents of teens spoke about how they remained uncertain about whether their children had been accepted into Malta’s only resource centre catering for their age group.

At the time, Karen Buttigieg, president of the National Parents Society for Persons with Disability, said there was no clear vision for the education of children with disabilities beyond the age of 16.

She explained that most children with intellectual disabilities begin their schooling in mainstream settings, supported by learning support educators (LSEs). However, as they grow older, a lack of trained staff in these environments often results in children being moved to resource centres.

These centres, originally designed to be attended a few times a week for support services such as hydrotherapy, have increasingly turned into full-time special schools.

The situation becomes even more difficult after compulsory education ends at 16. Until last year, one possible next step was transitioning to the Wardija Resource Centre, which serves students aged 16 to 22.

Another route is through MCAST, which offers a two-year course, but students are expected to be independent – a requirement that excludes many.

‘Life Map’ programme

A few months later, Inclusion Minister Julia Farrugia told parliament that a new state-of-the-art Pembroke campus would host a new ‘Life Map’ programme to complement the offerings at the Wardija centre. The minister said the Life Map service is addressed at 16-year-old students with disabilities so they can continue their studies beyond secondary school.

The following week, the Union of Professional Educators said it had been informed of an “allegedly secretive plan” to phase out the resource centre following a private sector agreement to provide the new Life Map programme.

In September, the education minister said the Wardija Learning Centre for students with disabilities would remain open for years to come.

However, the current application form does not include Wardija as an option. Last month, Times of Malta reported how parents of teenage students with intellectual disabilities were questioning why the Wardija Resource Centre was not listed as an option for enrolment and whether this meant it will be phased out.

The education ministry spokesperson said that the introduction of Life Map constitutes a concrete measure to uphold and ensure access to inclusive post-secondary education by ensuring that all students are offered meaningful access to learning within a high-quality educational environment.

The spokesperson added that it has been consistently stated through public declarations that students currently attending Wardija will be able to continue doing so in the future, “and that the working conditions and professional roles of staff in the same institution will not be adversely affected”.

Scicluna added that the main reasons she started the petition is because she strongly believed students with disabilities deserve to have a choice in their education.

“I understand that some students may benefit from the Life Map programme, but it’s not the same as an educational setting and it won’t suit everyone. Resource centres offer adapted academics within an educational setting, while Life Map is more centred around care and therapy. Both have value, but one should not replace the other,” she said.