Ombudsman closes Wardija investigation after Ministry commits to better consultation

An investigation into the Dun Manwel Attard School in Wardija has been closed by the Commissioner for Education, after developments during the probe and commitments made by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for Education and Sport, Matthew Vella.

The investigation opened after a complaint filed on 15 March by the mother of a 15-year-old boy attending his last year at Guardian Angel Secondary School. She had sought information about her son's transition to Wardija but was told the only option was a privately run programme called Life Map. 

Wardija had taken no new students for the 2025/26 scholastic year, and no new intake was envisaged for 2026/27 either. A disability rights group had already filed a judicial protest in March, after the school was left off a list of specialised support recommendations for the coming year.

In his Final Opinion of 20 May, the Commissioner found considerable concern among parents and NGOs, both about the new programme and about the apparent, though never openly stated, winding down of Wardija. 

Parents questioned why a school with a positive track record was being run down, whether Life Map staff would be qualified in Applied Behaviour Analysis, an approach the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability has flagged as unregulated in Malta, and whether shifting post-compulsory education for children with disabilities to a private provider ran counter to UN principles against segregated schooling.

Some of this had eased by the opinion: the Ministry told the Commissioner's office that a circular on 11 May confirmed Wardija's operation and coordinated intake. But the Commissioner found the admissions process flawed. 

The Board of Admissions, also handling referrals, consulted the Head of Inclusion and school heads before deciding on a child's placement, but not parents, with no right of appeal. The Commissioner found the complaint partly justified, recommending publication of admission criteria, parent attendance at meetings, and an appeals process.

The Ministry replied on 18 June that admission criteria and available places would be published, that parents would be invited to Board of Admissions meetings, and that an appeals system was being established, though it would not be needed that year as all applicants would be offered a place at Wardija.

The day before that reply, the Commissioner's office learned from parents and NGOs that only four of thirteen new Wardija applications were accepted, later reduced to three, out of 44 available places suggested by other evidence. The complainant's son was not initially accepted. 

The Commissioner reopened the investigation, and evidence showed that the CRPD and MFOPD hadn't genuinely consulted on Life Map, only presented plans already agreed with the private operator. 

The head of Wardija School was transferred after reportedly being blamed for revealing the 44-place figure, though no link was found. Eventually, all applicants, including the complainant's son, gained admission.

The Wardija case was one of two education investigations closed in the same Letter of Closure, alongside an own-initiative probe into Core Curriculum Programme students being kept at home during examination periods. 

Both pointed to the same systemic issues: insufficient structured consultation among the education authorities, the CRPD, and MFOPD, and insufficient forward planning, particularly regarding Wardija.

To address this, a meeting was held at the Office of the Ombudsman on 30 July, attended by Parliamentary Ombudsman Judge Joseph Zammit McKeon, the Commissioner, CRPD CEO Rhoda Garland, Education Permanent Secretary Matthew Vella, and MFOPD President Marthese Mugliette. 

Vella confirmed the Educations Ministry's commitment to more structured consultation and improved forward planning, said engagement with stakeholders would become more structured as part of a wider change in organisational culture, and confirmed that consultation meetings had already been instructed as part of preparing a new national strategy on inclusion.

In view of these developments, both cases were closed as requiring no further investigation