Parents who do not wish their children to be schooled in the Catholic faith may choose ethics as educators mull changes to the national curriculum.

Many preferred more focus on the proper learning of English and Maltese at primary level

The proposal, first made when the draft national curriculum was published last year, received general agreement, according to a voluminous report on the feedback to the proposed changes.

The report, containing more than 500 pages, was published yesterday by the Education Ministry. A 10-man working group will now sift through the pages and come up with a final blueprint for the national curriculum by year’s end.

The national curriculum is a detailed policy outlining the subjects that are taught in schools, class sizes, the aims of the educational system and how these should be achieved.

General agreement over the introduction of a new ethics subject was tempered with differences over what should constitute the syllabus and who should formulate it.

Concern was also expressed over the autonomy of Church schools, whose ethos is underpinned by the values of the Roman Catholic faith.

The different views on the ethics subject represented what the report authors described as “the countervailing tensions that are felt and, at times, evident as one weaves through the considerable feedback documentation”.

A proposed new subject called citizen education was criticised particularly because it will result in “the marginalisation of geography, history and social studies as separate disciplines” considered to be important subjects for students.

While the emphasis on science proposed by the draft curriculum generated “excitement”, many preferred more focus on the proper learning of English and Maltese at primary level instead of the introduction of a foreign language.

The public consultation was held last year and feedback was received from teachers, parents, national organisations and individuals.

There is a widespread realisation that to achieve the aim of having mixed ability classes, where students are not classified into different streams based on their academic achievements, more resources will be needed.

“Considerable and sustained investment is required to strengthen, up-skill, re-skill and re-tool teachers and educators if the principles and aims of education as presented in the draft are to be successfully achieved,” the report says.

A summary of the feedback will be presented to the public and stakeholders at information sessions to be held next month.