Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1078260
NEWS 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 FEBRUARY 2019 JAMES DEBONO THE present scholastic year has seen a sharp increase in the number of children whose parents have opted to exempt them from religion classes. In total, the number of these children has increased by 37% from 2,500 in 2017 to 3,422 in the present scholastic year. The number of students opt- ing out of religion classes has more than doubled from 1,411 students in 2014 to 3,422 now. This represents a 142% increase in the past four years. The majority of these students are now following ethics class- es, which are presently offered to students who have opted out of attending religion classes. But the difference has been more pronounced in a num- ber of schools. For example, in the Sliema primary school the number of students opting out of religion has shot up from just 21 in 2017, to 200 in the present year, an eightfold increase. In the Gharghur primary school students opting out of religion shot up from 14 to 51. This represents a fourfold in- crease. The statistics also confirm a sharp north-south divide with the numbers of students opt- ing out of religion classes being concentrated in localities like St Paul's Bay and Sliema, two localities which include a high number of foreign families. 57% of students opting out of religion classes currently at- tend the Maria Regina College which includes students from localities like Mellieha and St Paul's Bay and the St Clare Col- lege which includes Sliema. In St Paul's Bay's primary school, which is known to in- clude a large number of stu- dents hailing from different nationalities, 361 students have opted out of religion classes. In the south of Malta the larg- est number of such students is found in Marsaskala where 122 primary school students opted out of religion. Another sharp increase in the south was registered in the two primary schools in Paola, where the number of such students at primary level has increased from 33 to 70 in the space of a year. Surprisingly in Gzira, which has experienced an influx of foreigners, only 36 primary school students are not cur- rently learning religion – three up from the previous year. This may well be an indication that this locality tends to at- tract single foreigners working in the gaming industry, rather than families. None of the students attend- ing the seven primary schools in Gozo (Qala and Xewkija) and the south of Malta (Qrendi, Kalkara, Senglea and Gudja) have opted out of religion class- es. In Gozo, the sharpest in- crease was registered in Xaghra where the number of these stu- dents has shot up from nil in 2017 to 19 now, and in Zebbug, which saw the number increas- ing from 4 to 19. Students opting out of reli- gion classes can now opt for ethics classes. But not all State schools offer this subject. The discrepancy is particularly felt in St George Preca college (which includes schools in Val- letta, Hamrun, Marsa, Floriana, and Paola). In this college only 37 of the 224 opting out of reli- gion are studying ethics. On the other hand, in St Clare College, which includes Sliema, St Julian's and Pembroke, 735 out of the 782 opting out of religion classes are attending ethics classes. Presently 2,762 students in public schools are attending these classes. 142% increase in students opting out of religion since 2014 Schools with highest number of children whose parents asked for the children to opt out of religion classes: 2017-18 2018-19 % increase Primary St Paul's Bay Primary 295 361 22.3% Sliema Primary 21 200 852.4% Marsaskala Primary 88 122 38.6% Pembroke Primary 96 102 6.3% Mellieha Primary 58 90 55.2% Secondary Pembroke Secondary 307 349 13.7% Middle School Naxxar 251 256 1.9% Zokkrija (Mosta) Sec 96 150 56.3% Mosta Secondary 97 141 45.4% Middle School Birkirkara 104 85 -18.3% Number of students opting out of religion compared to number of students studying ethics in each college Opting out Studying of religion ethics Maria Regina College 1158 1109 St Clare College 782 735 St Thomas More College 325 81 St Theresa College 309 289 St George Preca College 224 37 Gozo College 173 110 St Ignatius College 149 79 St Benedict College 138 127 St Nicholas College 91 47 St Margaret College 73 0 TOTAL 3422 2614 Lowest numbers of children opting out of religion Vittoriosa Primary 1 Mqabba Primary 1 Gudja Primary 0 Kirkop Primary 0 Kalkara Primary 0 Senglea Primary 0 Qala Primary 0 Xewkija Primary 0 Qrendi Primary 0 The number of students opting out of religion classes has more than doubled from 1,411 students in 2014 to 3,422 now. This represents a 142% increase in the past four years In the Sliema primary school students opting out of religion shot up from just 21 in 2017, to 200 in the present year, an eightfold increase