The Nationalist Party has backed an MUT call for an audit of state school facilities so that a proper maintenance programme could be rolled out.

The shadow minister for education, Clyde Puli, said the government should heed a request by the Malta Union of Teachers, saying a lack of proper planning was leaving several schools in a poor state.

"The government should stop blaming teachers and parents for the shortcomings resulting every year as happened in the past few days at Sta Venera school," Mr Puli said.

Parents of young children at a Santa Venera kindergarten were left aghast by the disastrous state of a classroom there last week

The MUT said that the problems at Santa Venera primary could not be pinned on school leadership or teachers there, who had done their utmost to keep the school clean and tidy.

“Interventions required at this school are clearly beyond ordinary plastering and require specialised personnel,” the union said.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo claimed the classroom in question was undergoing works and he criticised school staff for allowing parents to enter it before completion this weekend.