Loopholes in the Education Ministry’s policies are allowing politicians to visit schools and political parties to use schools for their events, the Ombudsman has found. 

The investigation was sparked by a complaint made by independent candidate Arnold Cassola, who pointed out that PL MEP candidate Thomas Bajada had visited a primary school in Gozo. 

Cassola also pointed out that schools in Qawra and Kirkop had been used as venues by the Labour Party to host political activities. 

Commissioner for Education Vincent De Gaetano found that while Bajada had visited the school without express permission from the ministry, there was no deliberate attempt to give him some sort of political advantage. 

The school had for many years attempted to obtain funds to convert some of the unused areas on the grounds for education purposes.

A school staff member happened to know Bajada, who has worked within EU institutions in Brussels, and he was invited to advise the school on the possibility of tapping EU funds. 

“The head of school was not aware that he was a prospective candidate for any election - local or otherwise,” the report found. 

While Bajada did not at any point speak to children while being shown around the school, a staff member took pictures which wound up being posted on Facebook. 

What do education policies say? 

When the Commissioner asked the Education Ministry for its policies related to such matters, they replied that since 2022 the ministry has employed a policy forbidding politicians and prospective candidates from being present at a school during school hours, unless their presence is directly related to an educational purpose. 

Even so, all requests must be approved by the ministry and, in this case, no request had been made for Bajada to visit the school. 

Independent MEP candidate Arnold Cassola noted the visit and reported it to the Ombudsman. Photo: Facebook/Arnold Cassola

From the evidence provided, however, De Gaetano said that a circular informing educators about this policy, this was only circulated after the incident in question came to light. 

It was unclear whether heads of school or assistant heads had previously been informed about the 2022 policy. 

Using school grounds for politics 

On the issue of school premises being used for political activities, the commissioner found that another circular permits schools to lease out their premises against a fee, as long as it is ensured that these activities “befit an educational establishment”. 

“How party-political activities, such as those advertised in the press and on Facebook, which took place at the Kirkop Secondary School and the Qawra Primary School can be said to 'befit a primary or secondary educational establishment' is beyond the pale of comprehension,” De Gaetano said.

He concluded that the Ministry should “urgently address” these shortcomings.

In a statement, Cassola said he hoped that these loopholes would now be fixed. 

“It is sad to see that certain MEP candidates were allowed to abuse loopholes because of the unclear ministerial directive,” he said.

“I ask myself why it always has to be me, an independent politician, to denounce these abuses by government and PL politicians. Has the PN opposition become so numb and politically impotent that it has given up on checking on government minor abuses?”