Holistic approach for school activities crucial – MCWO

The position emerged during a public dialogue hosted by the MCWO on Tuesday morning, to address issues raised by after school activities.

MCWO chairperson Renee Laiviera said that activities should be provided by schools to promote learning of soft skills to children after school hours. Activities should include sports, arts and crafts, drama, help with homework and catechism lessons.

“Teachers providing the service should be provide services on a voluntary basis so as not to put pressure on teachers. Services should also be on a voluntary basis so that parents able to look after their own children can do so.”

Annick Bonello Cassar, lecturer at Junior College and mother of three, pointed out that there are 24 days of vacation leave and on average 80 full days off for children attending state schools. In the event that both parents use up their vacation leave to look after their children, vacation leave does not even last. Single parents are at even more of a disadvantage, she added.

She said that a number of unsustainable solutions are being suggested, such as relying on relatives, paying nannies, finding jobs that run parallel to school hours as well as working flexitime, though these are not available to every working person.

Malta has the lowest female participation rate in the EU at 39.8% where the EU average is 62.5%. The reason for this is that childcare facilities are simply not performing their required roles.

Dr Ruth Falzon, Lecturer in Psychology and Co-ordinator of teaching PSD, highlighted the importance of soft skills that are taught to children during after school activities.

She argued that 50% of all knowledge learned from a degree becomes obsolete within five years, and 90% of seven-year olds today will be employed in jobs we have not yet dreamed of. Therefore it is more important to teach children soft skills that will enable them to carry on learning in the future, she said.

Research has shown that juvenile crime, drug use and teenage parenthood was less commonplace in children attending after-school activities.

Joe Gerada, CEO of the Foundation for Human Resource Development, said that employers today are looking for the capacity to work with other people and it is not qualifications that are the first things an employer looks for. “Soft skills are as important as qualifications in an interview.”

During his own address, the president of the Malta Union of Teachers John Bencini said that according to the collective agreement of August 2010, 27.5 hours per week were established as time to be spent in formal education in primary school while 29 hours of formal learning are to be spent in secondary school every week.

He added that, while no change is to be made on hours of formal education, it is possible to use the investments made in schools for activities that do not fall under formal education.

He emphasised that now is the time for action, adding that by October 2011, discussions with the various stakeholders need to take place in order for action to be taken before the start of the next scholastic year.