Conclusions of survey on education in Malta

The Sunday Times survey on education in Malta throws a very interesting light on the processes at work within the schooling system. The overwhelming majority of res-pondents consider Government schools to be the best type of school in Malta and do not hesitate to send their children there.

As documented in Vassallo, Sciriha and Brinkworth (2002: 69) 70% of Maltese children attend state schools. The fact that 58% of the respondents consider them to be the best reveals that not everybody who actually sends their child to a state school considers such schools to be the 'best'. This study has shown that many parents express a view on 'which is the best type of school' that they cannot implement in truth.

Church schools were considered by 28.7% of the respondents to be the 'best schools'. However, not everyone who considers these schools to be the best schools is able to educate their children in these schools for a number of reasons.

Following the Church-State agreement on Church property, Church schools no longer charge fees, though contributions are welcome. Children are enrolled in Church schools if their names are drawn in a lottery system. This effectively means that theoretically everyone has an equal opportunity to attend a Church school. However, since the demand is much greater than the supply, many children are not chosen and parents are left with no option but to send their children to state schools or independent schools. Talk about real choice is therefore not rooted in social reality, despite what is proclaimed by the politicians.

Schools in Malta are generally considered to be primarily oriented towards imparting academic subjects, and parents of children firmly believe that life skills in the realm of communications, development of relationships and of leadership skills are sorely missing.

This was stated in reply to a set of unprompted questions to participants in this study. To the extent that this true, the educational system in Malta is primarily concerned with a narrow definition of education that imparts immediately usable knowledge and not developmental skills. In a world which is increasingly globalised and in which skills are constantly changing this is a matter of serious concern.

Private tuition

According to the respondents, the Maltese educational system is short-changing its students not only with regard to communicative and interpersonal skills, but is also doing so in respect of academic subjects such as languages and mathematics, since 36.7% of the respondents who had school-aged children in their family said that they send their children for private tuition.

In doing so, parents incur considerable expenses to send their children for private tuition. But it provides additional, frequently undeclared, income for the teachers who give private tuition after school hours.

The majority of respondents who said that they send their children for private tuition do so in languages and mathematics. This reveals that exposure to languages is imperative and it is evident that such exposure is very limited in schools to the extent that children need to attend so much private lessons to ensure that they will pass their MATSEC. Although State schools teach a maximum of four languages, not enough time is being allotted to languages to ensure that students do learn languages.

The fact that students need to supplement their school lessons with private lessons, as has already been noted, reflects that all is not well in the educational system. Furthermore, when asked whether they thought it could still be possible for a person to remain illiterate after going through secondary school, a staggering 77.5% of respondents replied in the affirmative. The Maltese seem to have little faith in the end-product of the educational system.

The public's assessment of what is going on in schools in respect of academic subjects, namely Computer Studies, Mathematics and Reading and Writing, shows that they are generally satisfied with the schools, especially in respect of Computer Studies. But satisfaction with the skills being imparted to children in respect of decision-making is the lowest, with only 3.22 points.

These figures suggest that a close examination of the school system is required to ensure that their agendas, especially those normally referred to as 'hidden agendas', are brought in line with the expectations of the parents and the needs of a modern society.

This study further shows that the majority (60%) favour inclusive education. However, some respondents prefer differentiated mainstreaming for children with special needs. It is also apposite to remark that there are different degrees of disabilities and, for this reason, 40% do not believe in a blanket provision for mainstreaming children with special needs with children who do not have such needs. The number of those who object to children with special needs swimming in mainstream waters is not minimal and should not be disregarded.

State schools are financially supported by all taxpayers and thus should have the best facilities when compared with Church schools and independent schools. However, participants in this study are not universally impressed with maintenance of the school premises, with the hygiene in the toilets in these schools and with their upkeep, though they are satisfied with in other areas such as sports facilities, good libraries and computers.

Life-long education

To sum up, the educational system in Malta is more geared to 'schooling' rather than 'life-long education'. Though state school education is considered to be the best by slightly more than the majority of the respondents, in this study this effectively translates into a call for Government to invest more on education, especially in the primary and secondary levels.

The fact that 77.5% think that it is possible for one to remain illiterate after leaving secondary school should trigger alarm bells in the education department. After all, literacy is at the foundation of education. The concerns expressed by the participants in this study suggest that for the nation to move ahead, one urgently needs to analyse with great care what is going on within the system and to produce radical reforms to match the demands of a modern globalised society.

Socio-economic groups

AB - professional, managerial, administrative
C1 - higher clerical, clerical, supervisor, skilled craftsmen and technicians, owner/manager of small business
C2 - skilled manual workers and foremen
DE - semi-skilled, unskilled, labourers, casual workers and persons whose income is provided by the state.

What is most taught and what is missing most in schools:

Subject/skill performance index in Maltese schools on a 100-point index: