Church schools expansion sets off alarm bells in private sector
Raphael Vassallo
News of a €20 million school-building initiative by the Catholic Church over the next four years, mainly in the primary sector, has sounded alarm bells among private schools, which – unlike their Church equivalents – are not subsidised by the State.
The president of the newly-formed Independent School Association, Bernie Mizzi, told MaltaToday that the ISA is currently monitoring the unfolding situation, and intends to submit a detailed, professional report for the consideration of Education Minister Dolores Cristina in the near future. “Yes, we are concerned at this development,” Mizzi said yesterday. “If there is going to be an increase of around 2,200 places in new Church schools, this is bound to have a serious impact on private schools across the board. Certain preparatory schools will almost certainly be seriously affected, considering that the new schools will nearly all be in the primary sector.”
The announcement of this €20 million investment was made last Monday – paradoxically, only a few weeks after the Church ended the preceding year by posting a loss of €1 million – and was almost immediately swamped by the revelation that the notorious Common Entrance Examination was to be scrapped.
In announcing its expansion plans, the Curia explained that the money to build these new institutions would be raised through individual initiatives by the religious orders responsible for their future administration.
However, as with all Church schools, the running costs will be heavily subsidised by the State: which is still bound by a 1994 agreement, signed with the Holy See in the aftermath of the notorious Church schools crisis of the 1980s, to pay all the salaries of Church school teaching staff.
A spokesman for the Education Ministry yesterday confirmed that this latest expansion project was the fruit of intense – and apparently secret – discussions between Church and government.
“During the past year, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport held intensive discussions with the Church authorities so as to reach agreement on this important transition. The Church authorities agreed to replace the Common Entrance Examination, together with the Junior Lyceum Examination, with a system of schools where children progress from the primary to the secondary sector.”
The result was an agreement with Church authorities which will see them building and equipping a number of primary schools (thus increasing number of student placements) in return for government funding of salaries for personnel including Heads of Schools, Assistant Heads, teachers, learning support assistants, Kindergarten assistants, and so on.
“This historic accomplishment between Government and the Church authorities will cost government €7.5 million over a span of 10 years. Government has also committed itself to refund VAT paid on buildings,” the ministry official said.
However, it remains unclear how, with a dramatically falling birth-rate, the government will continue to afford financing its own schools, on top of subsidising those of an already financially beleaguered Church.
“At this point there is no intention to close down primary state schools,” the ministry spokesman said when asked if this agreement was part of a plan to scale down the State’s involvement in national education. “On the contrary, due to the growth of populations in some towns, the Ministry of Education is planning expansion in some schools. There is no intention to scale down state educational programmes. This new agreement is a clear sign of the collaborative and healthy working relationship that exists between Government and the Church authorities.”
The ministry added that it remains responsible for each and every student in all schools.
“We live in a country that offers different educational opportunities. Parents can decide on what type of education they would like for their children. This new agreement brings more equity across the state and church sector, creating a level playing field.”
It is debatable, however, whether this optimistic appraisal of the situation will be shared by Malta’s increasingly vulnerable private school sector, which will find itself competing in this ‘level playing field’ against two levels of State schools – those owned by the government, and those owned by the Church but technically administered by the State.
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