Parents who send their children to privately-run summer schools have expressed concern after one of the schools cancelled its plans to open, fearing the spread of COVID-19.
San Anton Summer Club, which opened applications on May 18, reversed its decision and cancelled the programme, for fear mitigation measures would not be enough to protect students and educators from the disease.
“Our team has worked hard to put together this year’s programme in the hope that the circumstances with COVID-19 may change. However, in light of the present situation, we believe that running the summer club would present a risk to the safety of our community,” the school said in a statement.
“It is, therefore, with a heavy heart that we must announce the cancellation of this year’s summer club programme. We shall miss the children dearly, however, we hope that by following through with these measures, we will help reduce the risk of spread.”
Parents who typically rely on summer schools as a primary source of childcare during the summer months are worried that others may follow suit.
Father-of-three Steve Zammit, whose children previously attended the San Anton summer club, told Times of Malta that the decision meant his wife would have to reduce her business hours and rely on extended family to supplement childcare over the summer.
“Both my wife and I have full-time jobs. The decision not to open the summer school programme was not taken too well by most parents,” Zammit said.
The decision not to open the summer school programme was not taken too well by most parents
“One might argue, why not send them elsewhere. However, the children want to be with their friends and enjoy some fun times together. With this decision, my children, aged between 6 and 11, have to be entertained in other ways and sent to different members of the family to be taken care of while we are at work.”
He said schools and day care centres were meant to reopen as many parents could not afford to stay away from work or keep the children with grandparents or any other child minder.
“We are trusting in the ability of the health authorities to guide us accordingly,” he said.
David Mifsud, who runs the summer school Funsize Heroes, said summer programmes were still in limbo until mitigation guidelines were issued.
“We are still hoping to proceed but awaiting official guidelines from authorities for a final decision,” Mifsud told Times of Malta.
“Parents encouraging us to proceed have kept us from cancelling, as we realised there is no one decision that fits all and we were hopeful the situation will improve, making it safe to proceed with caution. We also understand that children need to interact as an integral part of their development.
“We understand that such guidelines require time and attention to be issued; we look forward to receiving them so we can have everyone making an informed decision and proceed accordingly. Key guidelines will affect our programme and financial feasibility to run,” he added.
Meanwhile, the state-run SkolaSajf summer programme opened a second round of applications, closing on June 9, after the number of registrations had fallen by half, to 5,500, from the year before.
The new call attracted 1,650 applications on its first day alone, Education Minister Owen Bonnici said this week, adding the strong response showed public confidence.
Skolasajf is due to open on July 1, two weeks earlier than usual.