WATCH: A Week Later And Government Is Still Silent On How Schools Will Reopen, PN Candidate Julie Zahra Warns
It has been over a week since Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that all schools, from kindergarten up until university, will reopen their doors. Still, the government has failed to issue any guidelines on the reopening or COVID-19 protocols, one PN candidate has warned.
“We have a lot of parents, educators, and students who are worried,” Julie Zahra said in a video uploaded to Facebook.
Zahra, a teacher by profession, first called on the government to publish reopening guidelines without further delay soon after Abela’s announcement. Her appeals have since fallen on deaf ears.
She also noted concerns expressed by the Malta Union of Teachers that it is also unaware as to how schools will reopen and what the procedure will entail.
Vulnerable students have been left in the dark, Zahra warned.
“These students haven’t sat on their school desks in almost two years and they still do not know what is happening,” she said.
Zahra insisted that she was not appealing for precise opening dates or book lists, but rather guidelines that would protect people’s health.
“I am talking about guidelines in order to safeguard our children’s health, student’s health, educator’s health, and lastly the health of our Maltese and Gozitan families,” she said.
Closing off the video, the Nationalist Party candidate said that she often has conversations with students and educators to air their grievances and understand the situation.
“This is in the national interest and we cannot remain with the mentality of leaving everything until the end and then expect miracles to happen,” she added.
“The Education Minister cannot spend another week not informing us.”
Have you been affected by the lack of guidelines?