Editorial

One of the most contentious points about our educational system is undoubtedly why so many of our young people leave secondary school having a low level of literacy. It is indeed difficult for people who are not themselves educators to understand why six years of primary education and five years of secondary education can produce young people who find it difficult, if not downright impossible, to write a sentence in comprehensible Maltese or English or to conduct successfully a simple conversation in English.

A recent report of an important survey, conducted by the University's Literacy Unit in conjunction with Britain's National Foundation for Educational Research, provides significant clues to what our schools have been doing to increase pupils' literacy rate and, more important yet, why some schools are faring worse than others in trying to do this.

The survey was carried out first in 1999, covering all Year 2 pupils in state, private and religious schools throughout the country, and then again in 2002, covering the same pupils who were now in Year 5. This made it possible to measure the progress made over three important years of primary schooling by a large number of pupils and also the influence of various factors such as sex, parents' education and occupation and school on that progress.

Individual schools can now compare with the national average the effect their remedial measures had on their pupils' progress, following the 1999 survey. This should make it clear to them whether they can afford to be even minimally complacent or else realise they need very badly to pull up their socks.

All schools have tried to improve the standard of their pupils in reading and writing both the Maltese and the English languages but it appears that some of these programmes have been ineffectual. This is especially evident in the poor progress made by schools in the Inner Harbour area, an area that has been recognised as problematic for the past few generations.

The main trouble with pupils in the schools of this particular area is that many of them come from homes in which the parents are themselves poorly educated and books are often unknown. In such an environment only the very gifted or very determined child can be expected to make good progress. On the contrary, pupils in private schools, most of whom come from homes where books are an essential part of the environment and parents give good support, generally do much better.

This is just as true of several state schools, among which Gozitan schools are doing particularly well. Schools in Malta might well follow the lead of Gozitan primary schools that have set up, at the prompting of the Foundation for Educational Services, a Young Writers Club. This brings together pupils and parents with the purpose of making them explore together the joys of writing. It would not be amiss either to link up the writing with the reading.

In the Second National Literacy Survey our educators have a good tool to be used for the basic task of producing young people who are able to use the two main languages of this country comprehensibly and effectively. Most primary schools should now be aware of their weaknesses as well as their strengths and, in particular, one expects greater efforts from Inner Harbour schools, aided by the educational authorities and other quarters, including the Church and local councils, why not, to counteract the harmful effects of poor domestic ba-ckgrounds.