SkolaSajf inquiry | It took school 30 minutes to notice boy, 3, had escaped

It took a playworker at the Fgura primary school thirty minutes to realise that a three-year-old boy who asked to go to the toilet just before the break had not returned, a board of investigation ordered by the Education Minister found out.

The playworker, who for the day was working in a classroom of five kids, told the board – led by chairman Peter Cordina – that the school became aware of the boy’s disappearance at 11.30am, insisting that that was the time the boy went missing.

But CCTV cameras and a report lodged at the police station by a person who had found the kid roaming the streets confirmed that the kid had escaped the school grounds at around 11am.

After interviewing a number of persons from the school, the Foundation for Educational Services and the Educational Directorate, the board discovered that doors to the school were left open for three main reasons: a broken bell; no letter box for the postman to deliver the letters; no personnel or caretakers available to stand by the door to monitor who’s going in and out.

The situation, according to school’s headmistress, had been like that for the past five years.

During their appearance before the board, FES officials said the incident had been caused by “the engagement of workers who didn’t receive the necessary training to work at SkolaSajf”. The majority of these playworkers were engaged through MCAST, following the fiasco that afflicted the opening of SkolaSajf – subjected to a separate inquiry.

The investigation established that the three-year-old boy asked permission to go to the toilet just before the 11am break. CCTV cameras confirmed that the boy ran straight out through the main door and the school’s gate, both of which were “wide open”.

At 11.10am, a person accompanied the kid to the Fgura police station where contact was made with the parents.

At noon, a playworker informed the coordinator that the boy had not returned to the classroom; after seeking the FES’s advice, the coordinator called the boy’s mother who in turn told her to go to the police station. The coordinator however could not go to the police station as, by that time, it was time for children attending summer school to go home. The boy’s mother also informed the coordinator that her son would no longer attend that school.

“It is evident that the playworker didn’t have the necessary experience and maturity to work with such small children,” the board reported, adding that the playworker had already been informed by the mother that her son was “hyper”.

It also transpired that the same boy had wandered away during a school outing at the cinema; the kid, the board said, was sitting next to the same playworker when he got off the seat without her noticing.

The Cordina investigation also confirmed the findings of a separate inquiry, which found that, this summer, FES was not adequately prepared for the opening of the public summer schools.

The board went on to make a long list of recommendations, starting with ensuring proper surveillance and health and safety measures all year round.

The report was tabled in parliament by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo.