Gozo’s small classrooms – big attention, little interaction
James Debono
Gozitan pupils are benefiting from greater personal attention in their education, as the sister island currently has an average of 14 pupils in each of its classrooms.
But the state school in San Lawrenz has less than five students in the fourth and fifth grades, and just three in Zebbug’s kindergarten entry level.
San Lawrenz is the smallest school on the island with just 50 students, seven teachers and four learning support assistants.
There are ten schools in Gozo, catering for 1,386 primary school students and an average of 14 students in each class. The largest schools, with an average of 17 students per classroom, are in Nadur and Xaghra.
While their small size does not inhibit children’s academic potential, Labour’s shadow minister for education has warned that very small classes could have negative consequences if pupils are not encouraged to interact with peers from other localities.
“Gozo is already is a small locality and this increases the need for students to broaden their horizons,” Evarist Bartolo said, while adding that he still agrees that every Gozitan village should have its primary school.
Over 74% of sixth-grade Gozitan pupils in state schools managed to pass their exams for the Junior Lyceum. The overall pass-rate in the Maltese islands was 67.1%.
San Lawrenz mayor Noel Formosa is adamant in defending his locality’s right to its own school. “It would be a big setback if each locality is not allowed to have its own primary school… if anyone attempts to take away our school it will be war.”
Formosa claims to have visited schools in EU countries which are even smaller than the San Lawrenz school. But the mayor also believes that students attending small schools should be encouraged to attend to interact with students outside the confines of the locality.
“We are already benefiting from EU funding through which students from San Lawrenz participate in youth exchange programmes. We want our students to understand that San Lawrenz is part of the world.”
The locality also organises summer seminars for sixth-grade pupils to help them in their transition to bigger secondary schools.
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