Schools need freedom to address their own needs, not top-down directives – ADPD

Schools should be empowered to develop their own solutions rather than being burdened with top-down directives from government ministries, ADPD – The Green Party said on Saturday.

At a press conference, party chairperson Sandra Gauci and deputy secretary general Mario Mallia argued that schools are being forced to dance to the tune of people who are not involved in education, leaving teachers and administrators feeling disempowered and demotivated.

Gauci said the key to worker wellbeing is for educators to be given their own space to work and plan their present and future.

ADPD cited the government’s latest initiative to provide fish-based lunches to students on Fridays as an example of policymaking disconnected from schools’ realities.

The party questioned whether schools were ever consulted about the initiative, which it described as an additional, unneeded and uncalled-for organisational headache.

According to Gauci, the fish lunch scheme highlights misplaced priorities in education funding. She said resources should be allocated according to needs, not for the sake of ribbon-cutting dead-end initiatives.

The party said that many schools struggle to meet their students’ basic needs, with some children attending school hungry or lacking proper care and support.

Mallia said that while the Education Ministry’s Foresight Forum, a platform meant to give educators a voice in shaping the future of education, is a step in the right direction, it contradicts the government’s continued imposition of one-size-fits-all initiatives.

ADPD concluded that empowering schools to make their own decisions within a national framework focused on wellbeing and equity would lead to more sustainable, meaningful improvements in Malta’s education system.