SkolaSajf to help re-integrate routine in children's lives, FES Chairperson says

SkolaSajf 2020 will be helping to re-integrate a routine in the daily life of children attending the summer school, Foundation of Educational Services (FES) Chairperson, Pamela Schembri said this morning.  

Speaking during the opening of SkolaSajf 2020 at a Zurrieq primary school, Schembri said that every year Skolasajf met specific targets such as giving the participants space to explore their creative skills, in a method known as learning by doing.

“However this year Skolasajf will go beyond that, as it will re-integrate routine in the daily life of its participants. Routine helps children feel safe and secure in their environment, something which they lost due to the recent pandemic,” Schembri said.

SkolaSajf 2020 will run until 4 September with the theme “my planet, my home”. 7,849 children will be attending, spread across 55 different centres.

Before entering the centres, children will have their temperature checked and will be asked to use hand sanitiser.

Social distancing rules, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, will not apply within the centres but the administration is introducing 'safe bubbles', areas dedicated to each teacher and a number of children. Visitors will be required to wear a face mask while on the premises.

Education Minister Owen Bonnici said that SkolaSajf 2020 was opened two weeks earlier because the ministry saw that there was a great need for the service in the community.

 “On the first day, Year 4+ children started attending Skolasajf, students of Years 1, 2 and 3 began attending today whilst Kindergarten students will begin tomorrow. It is also good to notice that after all the work put in, SkolaSajf will be in service for ten weeks instead of eight, as is normally done,” he said.

Bonnici praised the SkolaSajf administration for its excellent work, from planning through implementation of the programme.

“The road to normality began on the 1st of July with SkolaSajf opening its doors. I thank all the FES workers because this was only possible with their help,” he said.

SkolaSajf 2020 will be running for ten weeks from Monday to Friday between 8.30am until 12.30pm. There is also an extended service for families with both parents working which is offered in some of the centres from 7am to 8.30am and 12.30pm to 5.30pm.  

Bonnici said that the activities planned would remind the children of the beauty that nature possesses and everyone’s duty to look after Earth, as home.

“The activities will also be a reminder of the common good that unites us, and of the importance of caring for each other because at the end of the day we all depend on one another,” he said.

FES CEO Dermot Galea said that Skolsajf 2020 was a special edition for various reasons. He said it represented a collective victory for Malta and Gozo, as their work together meant that Skolasajf was the first educational institution catering for residents to open its doors following the COVID-19 pandemic.