Parents of children with disabilities are calling for alternative options to online schooling if the shutdown persists, insisting that not all children are able to learn online and some are at risk of being left behind. With safety measures in place to safeguard children and carers, learning centres and schools could open on a roster basis to the small pool of students who require it, according to a committee member of the National Parents Society of Persons with Disability. “We are in no way disregarding the national health crisis but we are saying if this situation continues for a while, we should find safe ways to keep the services going without shutting them down completely,” Karen Buttigieg said. “A lot of parents are very fearful because of what they passed through during last year’s three-month shutdown when their children were, in a sense, forgotten since therapeutic and other services they benefit from had closed down and they were left with no support,” she said. A mother of a 10-year-old boy with cerebral palsy told Times of Malta her son did not manage to follow his online classes last year, despite her efforts and she is worried he will lose out on another term if...