School has started and so have the traffic jams
The new scholastic year started yesterday and with it came the traffic jams.
To no one’s surprise, there were areas with traffic and reports showing congestion in several spots, including a long queue stretching from Pembroke all the way through the new Kappara junction.
More than 56,000 students and 9,600 educators went back to government, independent and Church institutions. The number of students attending kindergarten is 9,382; there are 26,173 students in primary schools and 20,802 in secondary schools.
As students and parents gear up for the new scholastic year, the problems or challenges that arise in the first week back to school reappear.
Yesterday morning, parents and children at the Pembroke primary school shared their experiences of their first day at school, which involved waking up quite early in order to beat the back-toschool traffic jams. One of the mothers who was dropping her children off at the school told this newsroom that the first day of school meant carrying a lot bags and books but also meant the “back-to-school traffic, which was not as bad as [she] thought it would be, although [they] set off pretty early, just in case.”
Another woman dropping her grandchildren off for their first day back said that the most challenging aspect is the excitement of the children “who are really jumpy and excitable” on the first day, not to mention all the shopping and preparation, she added. “But overall, I think it’s a lovely time because children do get a little bored towards the end of summer and they miss their friends, so it’s lovely for them to be reunited again,” she explained.
Education Minister Evarist Bartolo yesterday visited students at the Maria Regina middle school in Ħamrun. He walked around the classrooms, meeting with teachers and students. Asked about traffic, Bartolo said that apart from traffic in the most traffic-prone routes, no reports had come in of serious issues.
He also spoke of his disappointment at people who thought that teachers “had it easy,” pointing out that many teachers show great dedication and put a lot of hard work into their jobs.
In a statement yesterday, Partit Demokratiku urged the Labour government to follow through with one of its electoral promises: free school transportation for all. The initiative, which should be implemented no later than January, the party said, would serve to alleviate the financial burden on families, particularly those of low income, and help reduce the number of cars on the roads during the hour rush, along with air pollution.
“The pledge to provide free transport for children of state, private and Church schools cannot be left till another scholastic year if the government truly wants a better quality of life for Maltese and Gozitans,” the party said.
Public transport is also not proving an adequate enough service due to a shortage of drivers, which will be detrimental to Junior Lyceum, GCHSS, MCAST and University of Malta students, according to PD. “Any loss of time in waiting for public transport is disrespectful to the students, adds more stress and shows a lack of accountability by Transport Malta. Transport should also include proper WiFi, which would be very beneficial to many students,” PD explained.
“Partit Demokratiku recalls that in the past year alone €27 million in taxes went towards public services and therefore it is an appropriate amount to take all necessary steps in reconstructing the public transport to an adequate level.”