Parents demand minister publish report certifying school hall is safe

Parents of students who attend the Malta Visual and Performing Arts School (MVPA) are demanding to see an architect’s report certifying the safety of a school hall.

The request follows an incident last week when fragments from the hall’s ceiling fell down onto Year 7 dance students during their lesson.

The hall forms part of the Mikiel Anton Vassalli College, which is used by MVPA students since they do not have a functional theatre.

No one was injured in the incident but in an open letter to Education Minister Clifton Grima, a group of 169 parents expressed their “grave concern” about the matter. They requested a copy of the report cited by the minister last week certifying the hall to be safe.

The education ministry had said that the issue had been “addressed immediately” and that “qualified professionals” had certified the hall as safe.

In the letter, parents said that while they were relieved that no serious injuries had been reported, “video evidence and eyewitness accounts of fragments falling from a significant height are deeply alarming”.

“This incident has understandably caused significant distress among students, educators, and families,” the letter reads.

“We are formally requesting that the Education Department provides a copy of the report prepared and endorsed by a perit that confirms the MAVC hall’s building fabric to be in good state and fit for use and free from any further risk of collapse in whole or in part,” the parents said.

They added that the children and their teachers have the right to work and learn in an environment that is beyond reproach. “Until such time as these certifications are made public, we remain apprehensive about the resumption of classes in these premises,” the letter reads.

A copy of the email was sent to Opposition MPs Justin Schembri and Julie Zahra, shadow education and culture spokespersons respectively, and parliament’s Standing Committee for Education chair Rosianne Cutajar.

MVPA was set up in 2018 as a specialised middle and secondary school where select students receive tuition in an art form of their choice—dance, music, art, drama, media—along with the normal curriculum.

However, the school was left without a functional theatre despite this being an essential space for their studies.

Meanwhile, students have been using a hall that forms part of the Mikiel Anton Vassalli College (MAVC) which is situated nearby. Last week’s incident occurred inside the MAVC hall.

A couple of weeks ago, an MVPA student had challenged the prime minister over why his school has no working theatre. The question went unanswered.

The Education Ministry last year said plans were being coordinated between the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools and the National Philharmonic Orchestra to build a new theatre but no timelines were given.

The MVPA school hall (above) cannot be used because of safety issues, forcing students to use the hall at MAVC

In comments to the media last week, Education Minister Clifton Grima was reluctant to commit to a timeline for the project, while suggesting the matter should not fall under his ministry.

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