Independent school San Anton in Mġarr informed parents today that it will close down for two weeks starting Monday as a preventative measure against novel coronavirus.

In a letter to parents the school administration recognised that parents are “increasingly reluctant to send their children to school, resulting in dwindling attendance records and significant difficulty for educators to carry out effective teaching and learning with our students.”

“This measure is intended solely to proactively address your children’s continued well-being and that you should have absolutely no cause for alarm. In fact, school will proceed as normal for the rest of the day today and also tomorrow,” said the school.

Soon after St Martin’s College and Chiswick House School announced they’ll be closing down over the same period.

Malta Today reported earlier that St Edward’s College rescheduled its holiday period.“After lengthy discussions with all stakeholders of our SEC community, I am informing you that we will be changing the dates of our holidays,” headmaster N. Mac an Bharid was quoted announcing by Malta Today.

In the meantime pressure on government to order a shut down of all school is mounting with an online petition calling for school closures exceeding 10,000 signatures.