{"id":53093,"date":"2025-11-10T17:22:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T16:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/?p=53093"},"modified":"2025-11-10T17:22:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T16:22:39","slug":"its-reaffirms-commitment-to-inclusive-education-and-student-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/10\/its-reaffirms-commitment-to-inclusive-education-and-student-support\/","title":{"rendered":"ITS reaffirms commitment to inclusive education and student support"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Institute of Tourism Studies clarifies that the case referred to in the Nationalist \nParty\u2019s statement issued on the 10th of November 2025 does not reflect any \nnegligence or lack of commitment to inclusive education. On the contrary, over \nrecent months, especially throughout the past academic year, ITS has made every \neffort to secure the most suitable specialised professionals to provide the required \nsupport for the three students with disabilities.<\/p>\n
Two official calls for Learning Associates (LAs) were made to identify those qualified \nindividuals who have the necessary competencies to operate in a vocational learning \nenvironment that focuses on food preparation and service. However, the response to \nthis call was not positive and there were no successful candidates for the immediate \nprovision of this support. There is currently a third call open for LAs.<\/p>\n
At the same time, ITS has carried out all the necessary educational and professional \nreports including educational psychological assessments, Occupational Therapy \nreports, and those related to health and safety in the workplace, in order to ensure \nthat the health and safety of these students remain an absolute priority.<\/p>\n
It should also be noted that the curriculum offered at the ITS Gozo campus is based \non practical learning in the field of food preparation and service, which involves the \nuse of professional equipment in an environment that can be risky if they do not \ncomply with health and safety protocols or if there is no appropriate level of support. \nIn this context, ITS has been working on an alternative learning programme for these \nstudents in order to provide them with the best possible post-secondary learning \nexperience, in a safe, structured and adapted environment to their needs.<\/p>\n
ITS remains firmly committed to putting educational inclusion into practice and to \nensuring that every student, regardless of ability, has the chance to reach their full \npotential in an environment of respect, safety, and professionalism. Currently, \naround 10% of students at ITS in both Malta and Gozo are supported by Learning \nAssociates due to cognitive or physical conditions, while still following the same \ncurriculum offered by the Institute. In certain cases, however, where a disability \nmakes it impossible to adapt the standard minimum curriculum, a specialised \nprogramme must be developed to uphold the Institute\u2019s high standards of quality \nand certification assurance.<\/p>\n