Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/950286
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018 News 8 MARIA PACE FREE school transportation for all school children, which will be in place from next September, will cost the government €18.1 million a year. During Monday's Parliamen- tary questions, former PN leader Simon Busuttil asked Education Minister Evarist Bartolo several questions regarding the school transportation system. While free transportation for state school students costs the government €8.1 million per year, Bartolo said it would cost €10 million yearly to offer free transportation for church school and independent school students. Before last year's general election, the government had pledged to provide free, super- vised school transport to all school children in Malta. Just last week, the Education Min- istry released a White Paper for consultation on the new service. The consultation process will be open for a month. Although state school students already benefit from free trans- portation, Bartolo said that only around 12,000 students – mak- ing up 34.7% of all students – make use of the transport. Free school transport for all students is expected to boost the number of children that will make use of it as from the next scholastic year, research under- taken by the Education Ministry shows. The study carried out by audit firm Grant Thornton found that 14,000 more students could be expected to use school transport as a result of the new scheme. The first phase of the new transport system will start at the beginning of the next scholastic year and will be implemented in phases. How will the Free Transportation System work? In another question, Bartolo directed Busuttil to an education ministry website which featured more information regarding the issue. The site read that the minis- try's proposal would not change much in terms of logistics and the current system in place. In the case of state schools, the government pays the ser- vice providers directly, with parents not having to pay any transport fees. On the other hand, the payment mecha- nism for non-state schools is not standardised, and so at this stage the government would not intervene. Instead, parents sending their students to non- state schools would pay trans- port services and then receive a full refund, covering the rate agreed upon with the accred- ited transport providers. The system would see parents gaining an average saving of ap- proximately €500 for the service they currently pay for. When it comes to route plan- ning, the ministry would remain responsible for state schools and would not intervene when it comes to route planning of non- state schools. While the deal breaker for most parents appeared to be onboard supervision of students, which is currently unavailable, the minis- try said that all transport would be supervised. Educators would later be able to apply through an expression of interest that will be published. This initiative is on a voluntary basis and additional compensation will be provided. While supervision services would first be offered to exist- ing and retired educators, any positions which remain unfilled could be taken up by interested third-party operators contacted to provide qualified supervisors. Supervisors would be respon- sible for keeping attendance re- cords, maintaining order and reporting any incident to the re- spective school. In fact, once the refund appli- cation is received, it would be checked against the attendance records which supervisors would keep track of. Refunds in respect of students whose attendance is lower than the acceptable threshold will be adjusted ac- cordingly. The government also plans to pay for the transport supervi- sion services directly to teach- ing grades within state schools, while reimbursing the church and independent schools for transport supervision in the case of non-state schools. Free school transportation to cost government €18.1 million a year BREAKFAST is the most impor- tant meal of the day; it fuels the body after an overnight fast and kick-starts the metabolism. But it's important not just to eat any breakfast but to choose a meal that's packed full of essen- tial nutrients including calcium, fibre and a variety of vitamins and minerals including B1 and B6. And that is exactly where cereals come in. "Cereals are a great choice for breakfast," said Italian-reg- istered Nestlé dietician Mirko Cirolli. "In fact, they represent the base of the Mediterranean diet pyramid, which recommends which foods should be eaten at every meal – and whole grains are among them." Today is National Cereal Day, and Nestlé is helping to 'make breakfast better every day' by underlining the fact that whole grain is the main ingredient across its delicious range of cereals, including Nestlé Fit- ness, Cheerios, Nesquik, Lion, Golden Nuggets, Oats & More, Curiously Cinnamon and Corn Flakes Gluten Free. "If you skip breakfast, then you are forcing your body to use other sources of energy to survive – such as protein from lean meat – which often sets off hunger attacks later in the after- noon or evening. This can lead you to binge on unhealthy foods later on during the day," Cirolli explained. With this in mind, complex carbohydrates – like whole grains – are ideal breakfast foods, as they allow for the storage of new glycogen inside the liver and muscles without sudden changes in insulin, in the same way that the proteins present provide the amino acids necessary for protein synthesis. "Beyond that, cereals also pro- vide a considerable amount of fibre, which is important for the regularisation of bowel move- ments, to protect cells from oxidative stress. They also pro- vide the necessary energy to maintain the health of our mi- crobiota, which is increasingly in the spotlight because it is involved in the genesis of many diseases," Cirolli said, adding that cereals are also rich in B Vitamins, which are essential for the maintenance of cellular functions, iron and calcium. "So, on this day – National Ce- real Day – we recommend cere- al as a fantastic family-friendly breakfast that will set you up for the day. Just be sure to look out for the green banner on Nestlé Breakfast Cereals which shows that they contain 8g of whole grain per serving," the nutri- tionist added. Nestlé celebrates National Cereal Day A hospital phone opera- tor who hid a stolen mobile phone in her bra admitted to theft charges and was handed down a three-year probation. Alison McKeown, 38, a phone operator at Mater Dei Hospital, appeared before magistrate Francesco Depas- quale charged with aggravat- ed theft, misappropriation and relapsing. Although the circum- stances of the woman's arrest were not revealed in open court – the parties instead approaching the bench, out of earshot of the press – po- lice inspector Lara Butters told the court that one stolen phone had been found in the accused's handbag and the other in her bra. Both stolen devices will be returned to the hospital ad- ministration to which they belong. The accused was described as a drug addict with a habit stretching back 20 years. Lawyer Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia entered a guilty plea to the charges, pointing out that the woman had cooperated with the po- lice. She had admitted on the first opportunity and re- turned the stolen items, Debono said, acknowledg- ing that the accused "has a bit of a substance abuse problem." He suggested probation as the way forward in this case. The court addressed McK- eown, explaining it would be giving an order to help her. Seeing the admission and the fact that the items had been returned and the accused had said that she had a drug prob- lem that she wanted to solve, the court found her guilty and placed her on probation for three years, on condition that she undergo a drug reha- bilitation programme. "I'm going to give you a chance. I don't want to cost you your job, but if you breach your probation you will be in trouble," the mag- istrate said. Hospital employee hid stolen phone in her bra