The Second World War caused major disruption to schooling in the Inner Harbour. Teachers between the ages of eighteen and fifty, along with most university students, were called up to help defend Malta. Many school buildings were taken over by the military and used as hospitals, food stores, soldiers’ living quarters, or Air Raid Precautions centres. Where schools remained open, lessons changed.  Older pupils studied a subject called “War Geography,” which explained the war from the British wartime point of view, and they were encouraged to share what they learned with their families.

Maltese children playing atop the wreckage of a Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber. Source: Daily Mail

Air-raid sirens often interrupted lessons, forcing children to run to shelters. One powerful memory comes from Senglea during the attack on HMS Illustrious on 16 January 1941. Father Victor Jaccarini later remembered how Senglea Government Primary School, built on a historic cavalier from the time of the Great Siege and only recently finished, lay right in the path of danger. When the sirens sounded, the boys marched to a nearby shelter, singing an anti-Mussolini song. Two air raids followed, and the school was almost completely destroyed.

Senglea’s school destroyed. Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1233039633440130/posts/24979187818398645/

Victor briefly went back to collect his books before heading home, only to find that his family had already fled. Years later, his mother admitted that in the confusion they had forgotten him. In the crowded shelter, a woman held up a baby and asked whose child it was, it turned out to be Victor’s youngest brother. Moments like this show how deeply the war disrupted both schooling and family life.

Because school buildings were taken over for long periods, classes were spread across private houses, parish rooms, and other temporary spaces. Learning continued in short bursts and was often interrupted by bombing. Many parents kept their children at home out of fear, and absences from school increased sharply.

Even so, education did not stop completely. Important secondary exams such as the Oxford School Certificate, the London Matriculation, and local Matriculation exams still went ahead. Students from the Inner Harbour sat these exams and passed them, despite bombing, moving from place to place, and poverty. For many families, these successes became strong symbols of resilience.

In 1940, Fort Verdala on the top of Margherita Hills, limits of Cospicua, was turned into a special kind of naval base called a ‘stone frigate’ and a school was opened for the children of Royal Navy sailors who were stationed in Malta. As the war became more dangerous and air raids increased, the school had to close in 1943 to protect the children. The fort then returned to being used as a prisoner-of-war camp.

An old photo of the Royal Navy School which formerly occupied the Verdala school’s premises in Cospicua. Source: Times of Malta

As the war went on, attention also turned to adults who had never had the chance to go to school. In the summer of 1943, the Director of Education, John Brennan, began a campaign to fight adult illiteracy. Teachers were trained for adult education, and by autumn, evening classes opened across Malta, including in areas near the Inner Harbour. Parish priests and community leaders helped to encourage people to attend.

The response was strong. By 1945–1946, between 4,000 and 6,000 adults were attending evening classes held four times a week. Lessons focused on spoken English, reading and writing in Maltese, and basic arithmetic. For many adults in Cottonera, who had left school early to go to work, these classes helped restore confidence and self-respect.

In 1947, Fort Verdala once again became a naval school, this time mainly for primary-school children of British Navy families living in Malta.

Teacher training also needed urgent attention. After the war, Malta faced a serious shortage of trained teachers. Emergency Training Courses were introduced in 1946–1947. These were three-month programmes that covered subjects such as teaching methods, hygiene, and music. Men trained at Lintorn Barracks in Floriana, while women trained at the Convent of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Mater Admirabilis Training College at Tal-Virtù. Source: https://seminary.org.mt/

In November 1949, the first formal training course for women student-teachers was launched by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sixty women joined the first group. As the programme developed, it grew into a two-year course and gained international recognition. Because government funding was limited, the Sisters paid for a new building themselves. On 4 May 1954, the Mater Admirabilis Training College was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Training for male teachers followed a similar path. The De La Salle Brothers began courses in 1947 at St Michael’s College. With government support, a purpose-built training college was later constructed at Ta’ Giorni in St Julian’s. St Michael’s Training College for Men opened on 19 March 1956, offering two-year residential courses.

Classroom learning also changed. New reading books, such as the Wild Thyme Readers, were written especially for Maltese children and used familiar local settings. Technology entered schools through educational films and, from 1 April 1948, through school broadcasts on Rediffusion radio. Pupils listened to programmes about religion, languages, history, geography, nature study, and music.

Mater Admirabilis Training College at Tal-Virtù. Source: https://seminary.org.mt/

In November 1949, the first formal training course for women student-teachers was launched by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sixty women joined the first group. As the programme developed, it grew into a two-year course and gained international recognition. Because government funding was limited, the Sisters paid for a new building themselves. On 4 May 1954, the Mater Admirabilis Training College was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Training for male teachers followed a similar path. The De La Salle Brothers began courses in 1947 at St Michael’s College. With government support, a purpose-built training college was later constructed at Ta’ Giorni in St Julian’s. St Michael’s Training College for Men opened on 19 March 1956, offering two-year residential courses.

Classroom learning also changed. New reading books, such as the Wild Thyme Readers, were written especially for Maltese children and used familiar local settings. Technology entered schools through educational films and, from 1 April 1948, through school broadcasts on Rediffusion radio. Pupils listened to programmes about religion, languages, history, geography, nature study, and music.

Source: Arkivju, Issue 10, 2019.

By the late 1940s, serious challenges remained. The 1948 census showed that about 32% of the population could not read or write well, or at all. Evening classes were expanded even further, including lessons held inside the Dockyard during lunch breaks. Pawlu Bugeja played a key role in this work. He introduced the Adult Education Certificate, wrote English for Adults, and promoted learning through radio broadcasts. His efforts helped many workers improve their chances of getting better jobs or emigrating. Bugeja’s approach was practical and open to everyone. Drawing on his wartime experience as an interpreter in the British Army and as a teacher of English to prisoners of war, he used trained teachers, recruited volunteers, and organised classes in schools, band clubs, social clubs, workplaces, and especially the Dockyard. The focus was on English, Maltese, and arithmetic, with Italian added later, all aimed at reducing illiteracy and opening up more opportunities.

For many generations, the Dockyard itself worked like a school. Apprentices learned their trades by doing real work, guided by skilled and experienced workers. Boys learned by making their own tools, working side by side with older craftsmen, and forming friendships that often lasted a lifetime. Apprenticeships also included a social side. There were organised activities, a small allowance, and chances to study for technical qualifications, including theory courses linked to the City & Guilds of London Institute. As technology changed, training changed too, from riveting to welding, and from hand-drawn plans to computer design.

Dockyard apprentices

The war also reshaped Cottonera’s population. Because of heavy bombing near the Dockyards, many families moved inland to safer areas. Large numbers of middle-class residents, such as professionals and small business owners, never returned after the war. This marked a major change in the area’s social make-up. When rebuilding began, new housing was put up, often cheaply and with poor quality, and this attracted poorer families. Over time, Cottonera, once a leader in education, came to be unfairly labelled as deprived and dangerous, a reputation made stronger by politics and media reporting, especially from the 1970s onwards.

It helps to look beyond the Grand Harbour and compare what was happening in other parts of Malta. A study carried out in Gozo in 1999 gives valuable insight into how education shaped the lives of women across different generations, and how similar patterns were also found in places like Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospicua, and Kalkara.

One woman, Salvina, born in the 1950s, remembered leaving school in Victoria, Gozo after Standard Five. Like many girls of her time, she learned a practical skill instead—in her case, sewing—at the Sorijiet ta’ l-Istilla, run by the Franciscan Order. Sewing became more than just a job; it became a lifeline. Even after she married and had children, her skills helped her earn money and, most importantly, pay for her children’s education. Her story reflects the experience of many women in Cottonera, where practical work often replaced formal schooling, but the hope for education was passed on to the next generation.

Teachers at Cospicua Primary in 1954. Source: Guidememalta.com

Among the younger people in the same study, school experiences had already begun to change. Only one woman under the age of forty-four remembered leaving school at fourteen, which had been the legal school-leaving age since compulsory education was introduced in 1946. In 1974, this was raised to sixteen, showing a growing belief that staying in school longer was important. For some, leaving school early was still something they looked forward to, but more opportunities were now available. Three out of six of the younger participants went on to post-secondary education, helped by schemes such as the pupil-worker and student-worker programmes introduced in the late 1970s. These programmes allowed motivated students, often from working-class backgrounds like those in Cottonera, to study while also earning money.

Gender, however, still played a strong role in education. Older daughters were often the first to have their schooling cut short when families needed help at home or on the land. Even in the 1980s and 1990s, women from Gozo made up only about one-third of those who continued to higher education. Similar patterns could be seen in Cottonera, where family duties and money worries often came before personal ambition.

Meanwhile, Malta’s education system was going through major change. The University started expanding its campuses, later to move to tal-Qroqq in the late 1960s, showing a move towards a more modern system. In the 1955–1956 school year, the Education Department also managed to put all primary school pupils on a full-time timetable of 27½ hours a week. This was made possible by hiring 560 new teachers from September 1955, 90 fully trained, with the rest taken on as emergency teachers to meet urgent need.

That same year brought practical changes that made a real difference to working-class families in Cottonera and in rural areas. Small village schools were closed, and pupils were asked to attend larger nearby schools instead. To make this possible, a free school transport service was introduced, a service that still runs today. For the first time, free textbooks were given to all pupils; before this, only children from poorer families received them. These changes removed many barriers to going to school and helped make schooling a normal part of everyday life.

In the years after the war, the Education Department offered training in many trades at the Mrieħel Government Technical School, the Engineering Training Workshop in Ħamrun, and the Tailoring School, also in Ħamrun. Other courses included maritime engineering, electrical engineering, welding, sewing for men and women, and carpentry. These courses were offered from eleven centres across Malta and Gozo.

A major step forward came in January 1958 with the opening of the Corradino Technical School, close to Bormla, followed by the Maria Assumpta Technical School for girls in Ħamrun in October 1959. In 1961, vocational education moved to a new level with the opening of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). For many students, MCAST provided a way to find steady work without having to go to university. Also, during the 1970s, the former Knights’ Armoury at Birgu hosted the Harry Stanger International Materials Technology Training College for a few years.

The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology also known as the Polytechnic, featured on the Malta One Pound note issued in 1979. Source: Arkivju, Issue 10, 2019.

Education in Malta continued to evolve after independence in 1964. The Education Act of 1970 made education free at all levels, and reforms in 1988 set the compulsory school starting age at five. Schooling became more organised, moving step by step from pre-primary to tertiary education. While the University of Malta remained important, vocational and technical education also gained greater respect.

In 1977, the British Navy left Malta, and Fort Verdala was handed over to the Government of Malta. The fort then continued its educational role. First, it became home to the Verdala International School, which stayed there until 1987. After that, the fort was turned into a state secondary school, first for boys, and later as the co-educational St Margaret College Secondary School, Verdala.

Cottonera began to develop new educational roles that built on its long maritime and industrial history. For a time, Villa Portelli in Kalkara was home to the Maritime Institute of Malta, the country’s only school offering official training for seafarers. It prepared officers and crew for the Merchant Navy and offered professional courses for yachtmasters, near-coastal commercial operators, and small craft owners, following international maritime standards.

Villa Portelli. Source: Heritage Malta

Villa Bighi in Kalkara also played an important role in education. In 1977, parts of the building were used by the former Senglea Trade School, while other sections housed a secondary school. In 2000, the Malta Centre for Restoration opened in the east wing of the old Royal Naval Hospital, and in 2005 the restoration laboratories became part of Heritage Malta when the agency set up its offices there. In 2016, Villa Bighi entered a new phase as the home of the Malta Council for Science and Technology and the Esplora Interactive Science Centre, turning this historic site into a modern centre for science and learning.

Heritage Malta Art restoration Laboratories

Alongside these changes, Cottonera’s wider educational landscape continued to grow and become more varied. Church schools remained an important part of local education. De La Salle College, on Cottonera Road in Vittoriosa, carried on the work started by the Christian Brothers in the early twentieth century, offering primary, secondary, and sixth-form education. Another church school serving the area is St Francis School in Kampnar Street, Bormla, which provides education based on Franciscan values.

2St Francis School Bormla. Source: youtube.com/watch?v=Up9Aw5FOkT4

Private education also grew in and around Cottonera. St Edward’s College, which has a long history in the area, remained one of Malta’s leading private schools, offering education from primary level to sixth form. During the Second World War, its exposed position near the harbour forced the school to move temporarily to Mdina. After the war, it expanded steadily. New classrooms and science facilities were added, including a large new block opened in 1967. A Junior School opened in the late 1970s in the former Surgeons’ Quarters, followed by further extensions in 1994, designed by architect Richard England. A Kindergarten and Nursery opened in 2007 in the restored Nursing Quarters.

In more recent years, regeneration projects have brought new educational institutions to the area. Global College Malta opened in 2013 at SmartCity Malta in Ricasoli, offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses, while the American University of Malta welcomed its first students in Senglea in 2016.

American University of Malta. Source: tvmnews.mt

State education in Cottonera is organised under St Margaret College (Kulleġġ Santa Margarita), which brings together seven Primary schools, a Middle Secondary school, a Senior Secondary school and two Learning Support Centres serving Birgu, Bormla, Kalkara, Senglea, Xgħajra, and Żabbar. In Birgu, state schools include Lorenzo Gafà Boys’ Secondary School and Skola Primarja Santu Rokku. Bormla is home to Erin Serracino Inglott Girls’ Secondary School, Ġużeppi Despott Boys’ Junior Lyceum, and Maria Immakulata Cospicua ‘C’ Primary School. Primary education is also offered at Dom Mauro Inguanez Primary School ‘C’ in Isla and Patri Wistin Born Primary School ‘C’ in Kalkara.

Today, education in Cottonera reflects its long history as part of the Grand Harbour, a gateway between Malta and the wider world. Old military buildings have been turned into schools and science centres, while students now learn modern digital skills alongside traditional subjects. Even with ongoing social challenges, education remains one of Cottonera’s strongest tools for renewal, linking its past strength with new opportunities for the future.

Written with reference to:

‘Social stigma: barriers faced by young people from Vittoriosa’ by Stephanie Bugeja (Bachelor’s dissertation), B.A. Hons, Youth and Community Studies, University of Malta,2019.

‘The Transformation of Maltese Public Education: 1940-1964’ by George Cassar. Arkivju, 10, 11-28, 2019.

‘Politics, Religion and Education in Nineteenth Century Malta’ by George Cassar. Journal of Maltese Educational Research, 1(1), 96-118. 2003.

‘Before the Birth of Real Popular Education in British Colonial Malta (1800-1836)’ by George Cassar. Symposia Melitensia. 2004, Vol.1, p. 31-42.

‘The Dockyard from the Worker’s Perspective, 100 Interviews’ by Tony Cassar, Gianluca Falzon, Joseph Meli and Sarah Yeomans.  Published by Heritage Malta, 2024.

Why Education ‘counts’ : Educational Trajectories and Personal Histories’ by JosAnn Cutajar In R. G. Sultana (Eds.), Yesterday’s schools : readings in Maltese educational history (pp. 255-272), Malta: Xirocco Publishing, 2017.

‘Public Elementary Schooling in the Inner Harbour Area: 1900-1939’ by Elizabeth Ebejer. (Bachelor’s dissertation), B.A. Hons. History, University of Malta, 2007.

‘A Historical Outline of School Architecture in Malta’ by Conrad Thake. Education, 5(3), 7-13., 1995.

‘An Overview of the Education System in Malta’. Accessed December 2025: https://generisonline.com/an-overview-of-the-education-system-in-malta/

‘History of St Edward’s School’. Accessed December 2025: https://stedwards.edu.mt/history/

‘Somerset Wharf to Factory Wharf at HM Dockyard in 1928’ by Michael Cassar. Accessed December 2025: https://timesofmalta.com/article/somerset-wharf-factory-wharf-hm-dockyard-1928.1118511?utm_source=chatgpt.com

‘Students Present their School Experience’ by Stephanie Fsadni. Accessed January 2026: https://timesofmalta.com/article/students-present-their-school-experience.706833