[WATCH] Minister: no cuts for university research

Students in state schools will return to their classrooms on Wednesday with Clifton Grima promising a return to normality after two years conditioned by the pandemic.

“Schools will be back to normal. Back to before COVID,” the education minister said when interviewed bon TVM News Plus Xtra Sajf on Monday night.

There will be no COVID-19 mitigation measures in place and it will be up to the individual schools to decide whether certain practices adopted during the pandemic, such as online parents’ meetings, will be kept, he added.

Asked whether students would have normal peripatetic lessons such as science, PE, art, music and PSCD, which were disrupted during the pandemic, Grima reiterated that “everything will be back to before COVID”.

During the pandemic, peripatetic teachers were often asked to take charge of classrooms and fill gaps created as a result of mitigation measures. This led to missed lessons in these subjects.

Asked about the fate of the new Msida primary school, which has been plagued by delays and bad workmanship, Grima said it will be ready to receive students for the scholastic year starting in 2023.

Construction works were already more than two years behind schedule and sections of the building had to be torn down again this year because of structural defects.

The minister said the Foundation for Tomorrow Schools, which is responsible for the building of new schools, is seeking legal redress over bad workmanship.

“The school will open in the scholastic year starting in 2023,” he pledged.

University funding cut

Asked about the University of Malta’s €1.1 million budget cut this summer, the Education Minister was unfazed by the uproar this created.

A cut in the University of Malta’s budget should not impact its research capabilities, Grima insisted, adding the institution can utilise other available funds.

“There is a line item of €1.2 million within the ministry’s budget specifically to be used for research by the university but these funds have not been touched yet,” Grima said.

He added the budget cut had to be seen within the perspective of a record budget allocation for the university this year.

The university’s budget was reduced as part of government’s expenditure review across the public sector, prompted by the need to control spending in view of hefty subsidies on energy and fuels.

“The challenge is to maximise resources at their disposal and until now, the available fund of €1.2 million has remained untouched by the university,” he said.

The interview with Grima covered other issues, including the controversial decisions taken by the Junior College this year, and efforts being done to reduce the number of children who exit obligatory schooling without skills.

The programme also featured comments by Opposition education spokesperson Justin Schembri.