The Union of Professional Educators would like to congratulate the students at Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary for taking a stand to safeguard their well-being and their health in these unprecedented times. A circular issued this morning by the school has confirmed that these students’ endeavour to secure a shift from face-to-face to online learning, has been accepted and endorsed by the Minister of Education, the Hon. Justyne Caruana herself, and that as a result the Higher Secondary will be having lessons completely online until the end of the second term.

The UPE is relieved to see common sense prevail under the current circumstances, and to see that students themselves have taken the situation in hand to pursue their studies safely. The union is equally pleased to see that the ministry has understood that the hazard to our students’ health is significant enough to justify this shift, and has endorsed it as a viable and effective mode of education which will ultimately bear fruit.

At this point however, the union cannot help but wonder why this approach was not extended to all educational institutions, given that this same hazard exists and persists everywhere regardless of age-group, educational level and locality. The union applauds the proactivity shown by these students and encourages others in the same predicament to do likewise, and to stand together and voice their concerns as one, in an attempt to curb the escalating numbers of COVID-19 cases, while still securing their educational progress without possibly compromising their health.