‘We Didn’t Speak Much, But We Did A Lot’: Guidelines For Schools Reopening To Be Issued Soon, Owen Bonnici Says
Education Minister Owen Bonnici said that talks with the Health Authorities to compile a set of guidelines for schools reopening this coming September will be concluding in the next few hours.
Following the conclusion of said talks, the Education Ministry will be communicating these guidelines to its stakeholders and then to parents of students.
“The process of communicating the guidelines to parents will take around four weeks,” Bonnici said.
“As you may have noticed, we didn’t speak much, but we did a lot of work behind the scenes which is equally important.“
Bonnici went on to say that as soon as these guidelines are set in stone, all the questions brought forward by concerned parties will be answered.
A survey conducted by the Union of Professional Educators (UPE), Malta’s minority teachers’ union, showed that from 1,285 members, 87% would rather schools return to an online learning system this coming September.
“God forbid we find ourselves in a situation where children don’t go to school for a year, year and a half, or two years – that is a scenario no one wants,” Bonnici concluded.
“The more answers we give, the more people will agree with us that the best option is for kids to go to school.”