Combating illiteracy

Persons who come in contact with young people looking for jobs in factories and hotels experience the statistics of illiteracy first hand.

Thousands of young people have serious problems reading and writing although they have spent 10 to 12 years at school.

As functional illiteracy is so high among 40 per cent of our school leavers, it does not make sense to blame the students. The school system is to blame and it must be changed if more young people are to leave school functionally literate.

In our bilingual country, the challenge is stiffer as our young people have to master both Maltese and English if they are to get on in life.

The best education systems are those that manage to combine quality and equality: providing a top quality education experience to as many children and young people as possible, equipping them with the skills and competences that they need to live and work in the 21st century.

So far the only way we measure the performance of our students and the quality of our system is by evaluating the educational outcomes of students in primary and secondary education.

Pupils and students are graded according to the marks they obtain in tests and exams they sit for throughout their school life. Two very important exams determine the future of our pupils and students: the Junior Lyceum (JL) entrance exam for primary students and the Secondary Education Certificate (Sec) for secondary students.

The results of many children and teenagers in these two exams follow closely their performance in half-yearly and annual tests in school.

Till our education system develops new benchmarks to measure student performance and achievement, we have no other way except exam results with which to measure the quality of our education system.

Last June, 4,168 pupils completed their primary education in Malta and Gozo. Of them 536 did not even sit for their May 2002 JL exam. Another 1,806 did not manage to acquire the necessary competences in Maltese, English and mathematics to enable them to pass their JL exams.

After two years of kindergarten and six years of primary education, 2,342 (56 per cent of all pupils) did not succeed at getting the basic and indispensable literacy and numeracy skills needed to move on in education.

Very few of these students succeed in secondary education. Only a third of the boys from Gozo passed their JL exams, the worst result ever. Even in Malta boys are falling behind: only 827 (40 per cent) out of 2,056 passed their JL exams, eight per cent less than girls. The girls from Gozo performed better with a pass rate of 56 per cent, which is five per cent less than previous years.

Minister Louis Galea has accused me of manipulating statistics when I say that every year 2,000 teenagers are leaving our secondary schools without the necessary skills for the 21st century.

Last year, 2,342 pupils left our primary schools without the necessary competences to move on in life. Five years later, most of them will finish their secondary education without acquiring the basic literacy and numeracy skills, which they need today, and tomorrow.

With more than half of our students failing their JL exams, it is evident we need a strong action programme in most of our primary schools in Malta and Gozo not to allow so many children to fall behind in this crucial stage of their educational experience.

We also need to examine closely what is going in our kindergarten centres because children need a positive kindergarten experience on which to build their later educational success.

When this positive experience is lacking, children start their primary educational with a severe handicap, which they hardly ever overcome.

Apart from focusing primary education on the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills, we need to allow children to express themselves through art and craft and help them to develop personal and social skills.

Every school needs a sound school development plan with the main objective of reaching every child with a zero tolerance towards failure and low expectations.

We must build strong support systems around our primary schools to help them in their mission. School councils must become the living link of the school with the outside world. Labour advocates an education policy based on partnership: working together with teachers, parents and social partners to equip our children with the skills they need for the 21st century.

We also need to raise education standards in our secondary schools. Out of 5,092 students who completed their secondary education last year, 1,101 (22 per cent) did not even bother to sit for any May 2002 Sec exam.

Another 1,338 students (26 per cent) failed to get a pass mark in Maltese, English and mathematics. Out of 5,092 students, 2,439 failed to pass their Sec exams in Maltese, English and mathematics. These 2,439 young people do exist, even if Dr Galea looks the other way.

Male teenagers are falling behind female teenagers in their education. Out of 1,338 that failed in Maltese, English and mathematics, 702 were young men while 636 were young women. Twenty-seven per cent of the 2,620 male students and 26 per cent of the 2,472 female students who completed their secondary education last year failed to pass any of the three main subjects in the Sec exam.

While 391 (16 per cent) girls did not sit for any Sec exam, there were 710 (27 per cent) of the boys who did not sit for any SEC exam. This means that 1,412 (54 per cent) of the 2,620 boys who completed their secondary education last year either failed or did not even sit for the SEC exams in Maltese, English and mathematics. A total of 1,027 (42 per cent) of the 2,472 girls who completed their secondary education last year failed or did not even sit the SEC exams in Maltese, English and mathematics.

The Minister of Education is not concerned that half of our secondary school students fail to pass their Sec exams in Maltese, English and mathematics. In parliament, he boasted that our education system is among the best in the world!

Education and wealth creation go hand in hand and investment moves to those countries with a skilled workforce. The high rate of failure of our students is threatening their personal future. It is jeopardising the economic prosperity and social cohesion of our country. More than 2,000 teenagers, half our students, are failing when they complete their basic education every year.

This is an issue which should concern all schools as unqualified and poorly skilled boys and girls will grow into young men and women who become a problem for themselves and all others around them.

Secondary schools need to change and become more relevant to the needs of the thousands of teenagers who are enrolled in them. These schools should at least succeed in giving these youngsters the basic literacy, numeracy, scientific and technological skills and democratic citizenship competences they need to live and work in the 21st century.

evaristbartolo@hotmail.com