Pupil asks PM: ‘Why is there still no stage at my performing arts school?’

A young pupil has challenged the prime minister over why his performing arts school has no theatre to perform in. 

The boy, identified only as Adam, raised the issue while speaking on Room4Ideas, a ONE TV broadcast in which Robert Abela listened to young people discuss a range of issues including technology, education and sport.

“My school doesn’t have a lot of facilities for our art forms,” he said. 

“We don’t have a hall, and, in my opinion, we are the school that needs it the most. We don’t have somewhere to produce what we end up presenting.”

Adam is a pupil at Malta’s visual and performing arts school (MVPA) in Ħamrun.

After his comments, the presenter diverted the discussion back to social media, and Adam’s comments went unaddressed.

Later in the programme, Abela pointed to increased general investment in culture, however, he did not directly address Adam’s concerns. 

Parents of MVPA pupils said Adam’s comments echoed years of appeals for a theatre at the school, which opened in 2018 as a specialised secondary school focusing on media, music, art, dance and drama.

Social media commentary intensified last week following a government announcement of €1.3 million in funding for school sports and recreational spaces. A post about the investment was met with dozens of comments from MVPA parents, who questioned why sports facilities continue to be prioritised while the national performing arts school remains without a theatre.

“MVPA is a school of art and performance, yet it still lacks one of the most essential facilities: a theatre,” wrote one.

Photo of the hall at the school showing it in need of maintenance. Inset: Adam, the pupil who raised the concerns on television. Photo: ONE

Several parents questioned why pupils have been waiting for a theatre for eight years. “Why aren’t young artists given the same treatment as young athletes?” questioned one parent.

Another commented that the “investment advances in other sectors, and the prolonged delay in this case, raises legitimate questions about prioritisation”.

Parents who spoke to Times of Malta on condition of anonymity said the school initially had a hall and a stage, but both were in poor condition.

The stage, they said, was unsafe and unsuitable for student use, and since then the school has been forced to use other spaces for events, including in other schools, the Chamber of Commerce and the Auberge d’Aragon.

“It is deeply disappointing and unfair that students and teachers at a national performing arts school are forced to travel from one venue to another simply to fulfil their professional education and work,” said one parent.

Some parents also claimed construction works on the school hall began shortly before the 2022 general election but were stopped and never resumed. 

“We were shocked to realise that the national school for performing arts does not have its own theatre,” said another parent. “To put it simply, it is like running a national sports school with no ground facilities.”

“When it comes to the hall and the stage it just feels like empty promises,” said another. 

Some parents said the prolonged delays have left them feeling the arts are being sidelined.

“Honestly it feels like we were used politically when it was fashionable to have an arts school; now their focus is on sports and our kids aren’t a priority,” said one parent.

Despite the frustration, all the parents praised the school’s educators and leadership.

“The educators and the school leadership team are incredible. They give their absolute utmost and do impeccable work with our children; we truly take our hats off to them.

“It is simply a shame that their hard work isn’t supported by the facilities the children deserve,” said a parent.

Last summer, Education Minister Clifton Grima told parliament that plans for a theatre were being coordinated by the education ministry, the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. 

In response to questions, the education ministry did not give a timeline, and instead said, “technical discussions are currently underway with various entities so that the substantial investment of a new hall can be carried out so that it can be utilised by the whole sector”.

The ministry also noted the facilities the school has in place, including an art studio, an additional classroom converted into an art room, two media labs, a dedicated dance studio, two additional spaces used for dance lessons, two drama studios, and a classroom used for music ensemble work.

The ministry added that the school also utilises the premises of the School of Music, which is located nearby, for its programme, including the use of its hall and stage.

The ministry stated that it “gives arts due importance, and during the years has also invested in this educational sector”. It said in October 2023 just under €5 million had been invested in the theatre hall at St Thomas More College’s Margaret Mortimer secondary school, Santa Luċija, and a new sports facility. Students of MVPA have performed on the stage at the Santa Luċija school while they still wait for theirs.