Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1031063
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 SEPTEMBER 2018 NEWS an important tool. Mixed schooling was important but not enough on its own to help foster a culture of respect, particularly where boys are concerned. "Intervention at curricular level can help to slowly but surely create a generation that respects the equal dig- nity of all, independent of gender." Democratic Party MP God- frey Farrugia and PD leader Anthony Buttigieg, and vari- ous MPs from both sides of the House attended the march. MATTHEW AGIUS ROADWORKS on the major thorough- fare between the Sta Venera tunnels and Marsa will be completed just before schools re-open on Wednesday, Trans- port Minister Ian Borg said. The €14.2 million project included the widening of roads and upgrades to 10 junctions in a bid to ease traffic conges- tion in the area. Borg said builders have been working round the clock to make the scholastic year deadline. While teachers return to schools tomorrow, most children will go back to the classrooms on Wednesday. The re-opening of schools has notori- ously been accompanied by traffic snarl ups over the past years as a number of parents taxi their children to schools while vans and coaches transport stu- dents. The roadworks between Sta Venera and Marsa are expected to reduce travelling times, increase road safety and improve air quality in the surrounding localities by removing bottlenecks. Borg said that some 4.3km of crash bar- riers, 2.8km of pavements and 400m of cycle lanes were included in the project, which required 25,300 tonnes of asphalt. The transport minister added that new underground storm water pipes and culverts were installed beneath the new roads. During a tour of the roadworks yester- day, Borg thanked Infrastructure Malta's contractors and technical experts for "working tirelessly to reach the set goals and finish as much of the work as they could before the beginning of the scho- lastic year". The minister stressed that most of the works were carried out during the sum- mer months, after Infrastructure Malta increased project resources to complete them ahead of schedule. Works on other parts of the road net- work across Malta, including the Tal- Balal area between San Ġwann and Naxxar, are still ongoing. To mitigate the school impact on traf- fic, the government has from this year extended the free school transport avail- able for State schools to all students in church and independent schools. However, the higher than expected demand has led to a waiting list of par- ents who have so far failed to secure free school transport for their children. Education Minister Evarist Bartolo yes- terday admitted there were just over 800 cases of students from church and inde- pendent schools with no transport but added that efforts were underway to se- cure arrangements with more operators. Bartolo told a press conference yester- day that the number of transport opera- tors currently signed up to the scheme for church and independent schools stood at 75, up from the 18 on 8 Septem- ber. The waiting list was getting shorter all the time, he said. "The more operators, the more ser- vice we can provide. We want as many parents and children as possible to be served," Bartolo said, denying sugges- tions that the free transport scheme, which will see parents save approximate- ly €700 on school transport every year, was not thought out well. The Nationalist Party criticised the government for failing to plan adequate- ly ahead for the free school transport scheme, which has left many parents in the dark just days before their children return to school. Opposition education spokesperson Clyde Puli urged the education authori- ties to do all they can to solve the prob- lems before schools reopen on Wednes- day. Schools and traffic: a toxic mix