Schools will be welcoming over 60,000 students back for a new academic season this week, as 36,008 students at state schools and 24,932 enrolled in Church and private ones begin a new scholastic year.

A total of 10,372 teachers are returning to classrooms, with 66.64% employed in state schools and 33.36% in Church and private schools, the Education Ministry said. 

The ministry said the new school year had seen an overall increase in the employment of teachers, with an additional 200 being engaged, 39.5% of whom were new to the profession; 105 Kindergarten assistants (28.57% new); and 108 learning support assistants (21.19% new). 

In total, 29.75% of teachers starting the scholastic year are new to the profession. 

Another 118 teachers will be teaching applied and vocational subjects. 60% of year nine students have chosen to take at least one applied or vocational subject this year, the ministry said.

New school in St Paul's Bay area

A new school catering for children in the St Paul’s Bay area was meant to open in September 2015, however, the school has been marred by delays, allegations of corruption at the Foundation for Tomorrow Schools as well as an accident which claimed the life of a 23-year-old construction worker.

In February, the Education Ministry said the school would be open in time for the start of the new academic year, however, a site visit at the end of July showed that work on the site was at least six months behind schedule. 

One parent whose daughter was meant to start attending the Qawra primary this year said she looked forward to the school’s opening. The move, she said, would not only benefit her family due to the better proximity, but better alleviate problems of overcrowding that the St Paul’s Bay school experiences. 

“I’m expecting her to start there next year now, but it doesn’t seem to be close to being finished,” she said. 

“It’s been going on for a while but I know how Malta works, works start and stop, things are changed and postponed and we’re none the wiser.” 

“Unfortunately, if there are too many children, kids who need more time or attention could be overlooked. If there are over 20 children in a class, teachers need to cope with the workload of a certain amount of children so that’s not always possible. They could be missing a lot.” 

Another mother also said she was anticipating the opening of the new school, hoping to catch a few extra minutes of shut-eye. 

“We only live five minutes away, so it would be better for us,” she said. 

“Also its better for the children, we don’t have to rush and we can walk, which is better because public transport isn’t always reliable.” 

Few prefab concerns

Parents likewise didn’t seem too disconcerted with the school’s use of prefabricated classrooms, which were devised as an interim measure to cater for the influx of more children to the locality. 

“Obviously everyone prefers a regular classroom, but we haven’t had any major complaints,” one parent said. 

“The only real issue is that when the weather is bad there’s nothing sheltering the children if they need to cross over the yard.” 

Another parent whose son made use of a prefabricated classroom last year was not particularly concerned. 

“When they’re at school they’re not really in it for the classroom, they're there to learn,” she said. 

“So if they’re in this space I have no problem with it, as long as they’re learning.”