By the start of the twentieth century, the towns around the Grand Harbour; Cospicua, Senglea, Vittoriosa, and nearby Kalkara, were growing quickly. More families meant more children, and schools were struggling to keep up. Two problems kept appearing again and again: there was not enough space to build schools, and there was never enough money.

In Cospicua, plans for a new school were drawn up around 1900 as the population continued to rise. The building was estimated to cost £1,713 and opened in 1902. It was not very large, but it was an important step forward and still serves today as the Cospicua Primary School.

Cospicua Primary School. Source: https://anic-ramblings.blogspot.com/

In Senglea, an infant school opened at the start of the century. Very quickly it became overcrowded. By 1903, around 450 infants and other pupils were already attending.

Vittoriosa faced similar problems. An infant school opened there in 1915, but numbers kept rising. By June 1921, the boys’ elementary school had to be temporarily joined with the school in Cospicua while officials searched for a better solution. Eventually, they adapted the Armoury into a school. When the school year began in 1922, separate schools for boys and girls opened there. Even then, space was still tight, and there was no room for infant classes. The youngest children were taught instead in the Bishop’s Palace.

These local problems were part of a much bigger national issue. Between 1908 and 1916, many children left school early. About 43,000 pupils were taken out of elementary education, and 17,000 left before even reaching the second grade. Only around 3,000 children completed the full course up to Grade VII. In harbour towns, poverty forced many families to choose work over school, and some children never entered a classroom at all.

An old panoramic view of Bormla taken from Verdala, 1910s. Source: Louis Cardona, pinterest.com

Money problems made education even harder. Many districts had no public schools at all. Teachers were often poorly trained and badly paid, earning between one and a half and four pence a day. Still, an important reform came in 1913 with the creation of the Elementary School Department, which aimed to bring order and improvement to a system under great strain.

Education was closely linked to social class, language, and future work. Wealthier families could afford private schools, and some parents in Cottonera chose these because public schools were crowded or limited. Others preferred private schools because they taught mainly in English, which was seen as the key to better jobs, especially clerical work and skilled trades. This trend grew when the Christian Brothers opened a school in Cospicua, with permission from Governor Sir Charles Clarke. De La Salle College was founded in 1903, the first Christian Brothers school in Malta. It later became a private Catholic boys’ school with primary, secondary, and sixth-form levels. It closed for a short time in the 1910s because of low numbers but reopened a few months later.

De La Salle College. Source: lasallemalta.edu.mt

Training to become a teacher was demanding. Anyone who wanted to teach first had to study at the Training School in Valletta. After this, they were appointed Pupil Teachers, meaning they taught classes of forty pupils or more while continuing their own training. In 1903, a special Preparatory Training Class was opened for the strongest students, seven men and seven women. The best among them were chosen through exams to continue training in England, at Hammersmith Training College. The government paid £500 a year to support this. After two years abroad, these teachers returned to Malta and Gozo with new ideas and methods.

Even with this heavy workload, pay remained unequal and often unfair. In 1903–1904, a Head Master earned between £90 and £120 a year, with a £5 increase every two years. Head Mistresses were paid less, earning between £80 and £100, with the same rate of increase. Assistant Teachers earned much less: male assistants received between £36 and £45 and an annual rise of £10, while female assistants started similarly but received only £1 every two years. Teachers’ work was also closely watched. Inspections were carried out by the Inspector of Method, the Inspector of Religious Instruction, and sometimes the Director of Education. The Malta Blue Book of 1907–1908 records that Antonia Faure was Head Teacher of the Vittoriosa Infant School, on probation, with an annual salary of £40.

As government schools expanded, private schools began to disappear. In Cospicua, there were 21 private schools in 1900, but only 14 by 1902 with 318 students, and numbers continued to fall. Access to schooling was uneven. In Kalkara, which for years had only one private school, children had to walk to Vittoriosa, even though residents had been petitioning for local schools as far back as 1904. Officials said more crowded towns had to come first, but finally in 1915 a Government Elementary School opened with separate schools for boys and girls and one for infants.

The First World War caused major disruption. Many school buildings were turned into hospitals or storage spaces. Teachers were given defence duties, and books and supplies were often hard to find. By 1916, there were about 96 schools across Malta and Gozo, but attendance was irregular. Still, the crisis made people realise how important education was. In 1918, evening classes were introduced to help people improve their English before emigrating to Australia. Around 90% of those planning to emigrate were found to be illiterate.

Cottonera Military Hospital during WW1 (St. Edward College). Source: Lino Maniscalco, Nostalgia Malta (FB)

Teacher training remained strict. Young men and women had to pass an exam based on the Standard VI syllabus before becoming pupil teachers. They were then put in charge of a class immediately while still attending the Training School three times a week.  Poor pay and conditions led teachers to act together. On 22 November 1919, the Malta Union of Teachers was founded to improve their working lives and status.

School life followed a clear structure. Children usually began infant school at about five (though some attended earlier fee-paying schools run by religious orders). At seven, they moved to elementary school, divided into six standards. Infant schools were mixed, but elementary schools were separated by gender with different head teachers for boys and girls.

Language became one of the most sensitive issues, especially around the harbour where politics, culture, and employment were closely linked. In 1921, English and Italian were officially recognised as equal languages of culture in the higher classes of elementary schools, while Maltese was allowed as the teaching language in the lower classes. Many people saw English as the language of the Empire, Italian as la lingua nostra, and Maltese as il-lingwa tal-kċejjen, the language of the home.

Dr Albert V. Laferla

A major turning point came in 1920, when A. V. Laferla became Director of Elementary Schools. His most important reform was the Compulsory Attendance Act of 1924, which came into force on 1 January 1925. Children now had to attend school for 75% of the year and stay until fourteen or until they passed the final exam. As a result, numbers rose quickly:from 16,991 pupils in Malta and 2,560 in Gozo in 1920–1921, to 19,142 in Malta and 2,880 in Gozo by 1924–1925.

By 1921, about a quarter of Malta’s population lived around the Grand Harbour. Schools became overcrowded, often with forty or more pupils per class. Cramped and poorly ventilated conditions led to health problems, so in 1928 a School Medical Service was introduced. Children were checked for illness, poor nutrition, and eye diseases. A Milk Service was introduced to help very poor and anaemic pupils, and some children were given supplements such as Milo and Horlicks. Between 1933-1934, official figures recorded 72 cases of follicular conjunctivitis (an eye condition) in Valletta, 63 in Senglea, 26 in Cospicua, and 26 in Vittoriosa.

Overcrowding did not go away. In 1935, girls from Vittoriosa were temporarily moved to Cospicua because their school could not cope. Senglea’s new school building also shows how long improvement could take: work began in November 1924 at an estimated cost of £13,000, but the school only opened in 1934, costing far more (£16,791) than planned.

Overcrowding did not go away. In 1935, girls from Vittoriosa were temporarily moved to Cospicua because their school could not cope. Senglea’s new school building also shows how long improvement could take: work began in November 1924 at an estimated cost of £13,000, but the school only opened in 1934, costing far more (£16,791) than planned.

Senglea primary school under construction. Source: Times of Malta

Not all school buildings were owned by the government. Schools in Cospicua and Strada Mercanti (Valletta) were government property, but Strada Zekka, Senglea, and Vittoriosa operated from private premises. In Cospicua, even a private house had to be converted into an elementary school, and by 1932–1933 it needed structural changes to fit more pupils.

During this time, an important new school opened. The old Cottonera Military Hospital was turned into St Edward’s College, thanks to the generosity of Baroness Strickland, Countess della Catena. Every year she donated £5,000 towards running costs and later left £100,000 for long-term maintenance. The college opened in 1929 with 29 students and aimed to provide high-quality education similar to British public schools whilst filling an educational gap after St Ignatius College closed in 1908 when the English Jesuits left Malta. In 1935 a former powder magazine on the site was turned into a chapel.

St Edward’s College. Source: Independent.com.mt

Despite all the problems, attendance continued to rise. Census figures show that in Valletta the number of students receiving education increased from 2,566 in 1901 to 3,509 in 1931. In Cospicua, numbers rose from 1,142 to 1,790, and in Senglea from 733 to 1,213. Yet progress came with serious problems.

For some pupils, school opened doors. The most successful could win scholarships or enter the Lyceum, though places were limited and exams were difficult. Pupils needed to pass competitive exams to enter secondary schools, the Dry Docks School, or the Girls’ Secondary School.

Success was celebrated publicly. Prize Day became one of the most important events in the school year, where effort was rewarded and families could feel proud. By 1911 it was considered practical to organise prize distribution mainly in two districts: Valletta and Cottonera. In Valletta the ceremony was led by the Lieutenant Governor and Mrs Clauson; in Cottonera it was led by Mr J. Howard, Member for the Fifth District, and Mrs Howard. Schools also joined competitions such as those organised by the Malta Branch of the Navy League; in one contest with twenty schools, first prize was won by a girl from Senglea. Annual school exhibitions were also highlights: pupils displayed their work, including needlework, competing with other localities and turning school skills into public achievement.

Physical training became part of school life in the late 1920s. Newer schools included playgrounds to support health and exercise.

Playground in a Maltese school: Source: Department of Information (Malta) / Facebook

School registers also reveal the social mix of the Inner Harbour. Records from public schools in Cospicua and Kalkara include many foreign surnames, reflecting the area’s long connection to migration, naval activity, and international trade.

Politics also reshaped education. After the Constitution was suspended, in 1933 Maltese and English became official languages, and Italian was removed from primary schools. By 1934, Maltese became a national language and soon spread throughout the school system, supported by new textbooks written by Maltese scholars.

School children during a school assembly in 1935. Source:  National Archives of Malta, Photographic Collection, 2152

Reform continued in the 1930s. The Department of Education was created in 1933, bringing all schools under one authority with Dr Laferla as Director of Education. Technical education expanded: a technical school for boys aged twelve and over opened in Mrieħel, while domestic education was provided for girls, including the Housecraft School, opened in Floriana in 1931.

By this time, the goal of elementary education was clear: to educate working-class children and give the most able a chance to go further. Pupils learned Maltese, English, and Italian, along with arithmetic, writing, history, geography, catechism, drawing, modelling, wood carving, physical drill, and needlework for girls. In Cottonera, education had become a powerful, though imperfect, path towards a better future.