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Matthew Vella
A communication sent by the Archbishop’s delegate to the Curia’s education secretariat Fr Dominic Scerri to the heads of school falling within the remit of the Catholic Church, has revealed the magnitude of the unregulated regime of preferential donations, ad hoc fees and other “flagrant infringements” of the agreement on Church schools signed between the government and the Vatican.
The letter, sent just prior to the start of the 2004 scholastic year, clearly maps out an unregulated world of schools demanding stipulated sums of money “as if by right” instead of donations as laid down in the Church-State agreement, and cases of students being reprimanded in class or by their headmasters for failing to forward their donation to the school.
“During the past, we have had parents of children in Church schools remarking on instances of grave insistence in requesting donations as if these were simply fees. We also had parents, having children in different Church schools, asking why one school just notes the importance of financial help without which the school in question could not survive, while other schools demand strongly, as if by right, stipulated sums of money.”
The seriousness of the matter, first revealed in MaltaToday, was elucidated by the exasperation shown in the letter from Fr Dominic Scerri, who writes that although these matters have been “spelled out verbally and in writing to schools on different occasions, there are still those who just ignore the relevant directives given by my secretariat.”
The letter also confirms instances of primary Church schools increasing vacancies at higher levels than the entry level, without notifying these places and submitting access to the ballot system, the common practice which governs entry into the limited places offered by Church schools.
Last week, this newspaper reported how Church schools that increase vacancies at secondary levels were not notifying the Catholic education secretariat of the places on offer, which according to the rules of the Private Schools Association (PSA), are awarded to students sitting for the common entrance exam.
Preferential entry
Underlined by a general tone of concern, the head of the Catholic education secretariat pointed out in his letter to the Church schools that “specific school initiatives” were “harming the reputation of the Church in Malta, and of Church schools”.
He distinctly referred to the creation of vacancies by schools at primary level, to accommodate children which had failed to secure a place at entry level through the ballot system, which allocates the limited amount of places at random.
Scerri warned that it had been “explicitly stated” that children who had been unsuccessful at securing a place by ballot, had managed to find a place in the following years in higher classes after classrooms would have been increased by anything between five places to an entirely new class. Scerri said that any vacancies had to be notified a year in advance.
Although stopping short of outlining the abuse, the letter was meant to warn schools of malpractice in the creation of new places for students which are not admitted by ballot – the alternative is a system of generous donations given to the school authorities for preferential access to the school, a hassle-free access not subject to the random ballot.
Reports received by this newspaper also confirm the system of generous donations exists at secondary school levels, with certain Church schools that increase their vacancies at Form One by anything up to an entire classroom, failing to notify these places and submit prospective candidates to the common entrance exam.
Students are granted access to their school of choice according to their ranking in the common entrance exam – the highest rankings get first preference for the school of their choice.
In 2005, a total of 474 places will be made available at De Le Salle College, St Albert the Great, St Aloysius, St Domenico Savio, St Augustine, St Elias, St Michael, St Paul’s Missionary College, and the Archbishop’s Seminary.
Whilst Scerri’s communiqué confirms the existence of schools which have been increasing vacancies without notifying the secretariat, the letter is tantamount to confirmation of the abuse in the system of generous donations for preferential access.
MaltaToday is informed of certain Church schools have increased their vacancies at primary level and at Form One without submitting prospective candidates to the common entrance exam. In some cases, the new vacancies are obtained through fees ranging up to as much as Lm500.
In his letter to the heads of primary Church schools, that where vacancies are on offer, these have to be notified to the secretariat, whereby places will be awarded through the ballot system.
In comments to MaltaToday, Scerri confirmed that schools offering a substantial number of vacancies are expected to join the common entrance scheme: “Church schools that do not participate in the common entrance exam are those which cater for a primary level, and whose primary students progress to secondary level. If and when, occasionally, such schools have a few vacancies at secondary level, these are filled according to specific criteria adopted by these schools.”
Donations galore
In another letter, Fr Scerri informs Church schools heads of cases of malpractice in which specific payments were demanded for foolscaps used during examinations, and for examination, assessment records and results “when these are part and parcel of tuition that is expressly noted as free; to cover stationery, handouts and photocopying, at the beginning of the scholastic year (requesting Lm25 for stationery); for toilet facilities, for putting up and changing class curtains; for registration fees at the end of the scholastic year from those who intended to continue their tuition at their same school; for registration fees at the beginning of each scholastic year.”
According to the Curia’s official procedure on free donations, Church schools are asked to estimate any costs for projects, equipment, and administrative expenses, which are then to be shared between the number of families having children at school. Such requests should also be forwarded to the secretariat before being issued.
Such is the gravity of the unregulated domain of Church school donations, that Fr Scerri also suggested that “for reasons of accountability to parents”, an income and expenditure statement should be given out to parents before the end of the scholastic year with the resultant profit or loss.
Fr Scerri writes that free donations can only be requested from parents for precise educational projects, day-to-day necessities and current expenditure, school equipment, and other administrative costs.
“It is regretted to point out that there have been instances where heads of school, either personally or through the services of staff members, pointed out children in class reminding them that they did not hand over their donation, or even asking them to remind their parents to pay up. In a fair number of cases, there were even heads of school who called children to their office reprimanding them for failing to forward their donation to the school.
“Although it is a well known fact that no Church school can carry out its educational mission without parents’ donations, and simply on subvention of salaries, there are conditions tied to requests for donations from parents. Yet, it is regretted that although this matter has been spelled out verbally and in writing from schools on different occasions, there are still those who just ignore the relevant directives given by my Secretariat which is ultimately responsible to Government for the Holy See-Republic of Malta Agreement.”
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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