March 2020 brought about a new reality to the educational system in Malta.

As a result of the pandemic, all schools were closed and teachers, parents and students alike had to suddenly adapt themselves to a different situation. Everyone shifted online while stressfully trying to adapt and adhere to these new methods of teaching and learning.

Of course, this sudden reality meant that educators had to revisit their methods of teaching and parents had to adjust their working hours or use up their leave to stay home with their children. Not to mention the immeasurable stress inflicted on students of all ages in suddenly finding themselves totally detached from their daily school environment and friends.

To add insult to injury, once it was decided that we could resort back to ‘normality’, a number of parents had to shift their working hours once again for the benefit of their children due to the fact that a number of schools opted for a hybrid basis of physical and remote learning. But the experience was short-lived since the educational system was forced to shut down again. The experience alone was mind-blowing.

The education of our children is paramount. They are, after all, the future of our nation and we should strive to avoid a generation gap where students miss out on any future opportunities.

Vulnerable children and those with learning difficulties have suffered the most due to the COVID-19 situation as have those hailing from families experiencing difficult situations.

Besides the learning aspect, schools are the first point of reference between students and the social welfare system. Unfortunately, the pandemic has disrupted this too since students who required particular attention could not be monitored because they were not attending school on a regular basis. Hence the relationship between students, social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists was disrupted.

Does the government have any plan for these students?

The reopening of schools should be a priority for our government right now

We are now a month away from the beginning of a new scholastic year and most of us teachers, parents and students are still guessing what’s in store for us all this coming September. COVID-19 is probably here to stay for the long term. Social distancing, masks and the concept of bubbles are probably going to be the norm in every school for the next scholastic year. But will this mean that we will resort back to a hybrid system?

It is only when the global community reaches herd immunity, thanks to a continued drive in the vaccination programmes, that one can say that this pandemic is a thing of the past.

Italy, for example, is currently boosting the vaccination process among teenagers ahead of the reopening of schools as are the UK and Ireland.

The reopening of schools should be a priority for our government right now. A priority defined in a structured and sustainable way and which includes all the key stakeholders in the process.

While appreciating that the situation is a fluid one and which, on a national level, could have been controlled much better, discussing any new measures too late will only mean that their implementation is delayed, resulting in a repeat of past mistakes.

I am a professional educator myself and hence I am confident that the common sentiment among all educators, parents and students is the need to know about the plans that the education minister has been supposedly working on.

It is our right to know. It is our right to know in order to enjoy some form of stability and forward-planning in order to avoid any unnecessary anxiety once again within our educational community and,  particularly,  for parents and their children.

This is why, in my view, better and serious planning needs to take place. Words aren’t enough. The experiences lived through since March 2020 should be useful enough to implement new or better strategies for our education sector.

After a year-and-a-half of experiencing disruptions within the educational system, plus coping with added stress and anxiety within our own homes, those making policy are already late in coming up with better strategies for the common benefit of us all.

In the meantime, the clock is ticking.