Education Ministry orders investigation after three-year-old is left behind on school bus

Updated at 7:30 PM with ministry statement

The Education Ministry has ordered an investigation into reports that a three-year-old girl was locked in a garage for three hours, after she was left behind on a school minibus.

A ministry spokesperson told Times of Malta the minister instructed management to investigate the case the moment she became aware of the reports.

The case happened on Tuesday and Lovin Malta broke the story today. According to the reports, the three-year-old was left behind on the bus, after her second day at the Pieta primary school, where she attends Kinder classes.

The girl’s mother was made aware that her child had not made it to the after-school club, Klabb 3-16, at the Hamrun primary school. To the mother's shock, no one knew what had happened to her daughter.

Eventually, the child was found and she was reunited with her mother, who received no apology from the school or the bus driver.

The bus trip formed part of the government free school transport, which means that a supervisor should have been present to ensure the safety of students. According to the reports, no supervisor was present for this trip.

The girl recounted to her mother how afraid she was: “I was very afraid, I started screaming, calling mum, but no one came".

The mother, Bojana was never offered an explanation by the school administration and recounted how stressed and traumatized the child was, to the extent that she did not want to go back to school.

The bus driver insisted that the child was never left alone and claimed that she was dropped off at the school club.

Education ministry launches investigation

The Education Ministry has said that it has ordered an investigation into the case.

It said that as soon as the ministry was made aware of the case, it ordered an in-depth investigation into the claims, so that any necessary action is taken.

The inquiry is composed of former judge Philip Sciberras, former assistant commissioner Josie Brincat and retired educator and former assistant director at the Ministry for Education Salvina Muscat.

“Action was also taken to notify the operator that the concerned driver is immediately stopped from operating within the free student transport scheme,” the ministry said.