Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1139344
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 JULY 2019 NEWS WE HAVE MOVED! Malta Industrial Parks Ltd has moved to new offices in Birkirkara. Besides being more central and easier to reach, the new facilities also have more space and a better layout, thereby enabling the provision of a better service to clients. The new contact details are: Malta Industrial Parks Ltd 88, Msida Valley Road Birkirkara BKR9020 (+356) 22264400 www.mip.com.mt info@mip.com.mt during the year is taken in- to consideration and given weighting without the need for any form of exams. 41% disagreed with this idea. Only 32% agreed that instead of the Benchmark there should only be a school/college-based in- formal exam. What are the children saying? Children participating in fo- cus groups expressed mixed feelings, feeling pressured by the exam while at the same time feeling the need of hav- ing their progress assessed. Most of them agreed that a form of assessment will defi- nitely help them. Some point- ed out that exams or ongoing tests help them to study, learn and set targets. But one of the reasons they want to do well in the Bench- mark, is because they want to be in a "good class" in second- ary school and not with the lesser achievers. They also do not want to be referred to as 'failures'. One of the students partici- pating in the focus group be- lieved that children in good classes also have the best teachers. This suggests that, as happened in the past with the Junior Lyceum exam, stu- dents still perceive the Bench- mark as a filter which penal- ises those who fail. The majority of the pupils think that of the three Bench- mark subjects, Maltese is the most difficult. "The majority of students find Maltese the most difficult and feel that they have to study it more," with orthography remaining a major headache for students. "Students find it difficult to write words with għ and h. They call them 'tricky words'," the report notes. Some students find it diffi- cult to read certain words in Maltese and harder to write a composition in Maltese, with some citing a lack of ideas. A number of students said there are not enough read- ing books in Maltese which are suitable for their age. Ac- cording to the students, read- ing books in English is better. They also get confused when they come to write words of English origin and change them into Maltese, for exam- ple "gowler" for 'goaler'. Migrant students also made the point that they consider the Benchmark as "a very big, big problem", causing them unnecessary stress. While many in this category are ex- empted from these exams due to the language barrier, they feel it is imperative that they are given an opportunity to show their competencies before proceeding to Year 7 (Form 1). In those subjects in which they would not be able sit for, they suggested that instead of a written exam they should be assessed orally. The report floats the idea that the Mathematics paper should be in the native lan- guage of migrant students, most of which stand at a dis- advantage, having to learn how to speak and understand two new languages in a short time. in three 10- year-olds takes private lessons JAMES DEBONO OWNERS of a row of one-storey Qawra bun- galows are proposing zoning changes first re- jected in 2017, which could pave the way for apartments on this characteristic area. The re-zoning application asks that the row of 11 detached, one-story bungalows along the Qawra coats, be rezoned for three-story apart- ment blocks – over 12 metres in height – which would increase the low-density area's built cov- erage to 50%. In 2017, a proposal for four-storey apartment blocks in the same area was unanimously re- jected by the Planning Authority's executive council, after 280 Qawra residents objected to the plans. The site is part of a larger area that once be- longed to a single owner, who included restric- tive conditions in each contract to preserve the site as developed in line with a holistic master plan. But changes to the local plan in 2006, desig- nating the area as a 'residential priority area', paved the way for proposed rezoning. PA board chairman Vince Cassar had de- scribed this as "one of many mistakes made in 2006", during a public hearing in 2017. One of the reasons why the original proposal was not approved was that two owners had not granted their consent to the application. A plot owner has already formally objected to the lat- est plans, arguing that the new PC application is not different from the one turned down by the PA two years ago. "This application is not an enhancement but an exercise to ruin the amen- ity, character and distinctiveness that exists and should be refused for the same reasons." New zoning attempt to drop Qawra villas Will Qawra lose villa zoning?