The support services for students promised in the education reform would help reduce absenteeism but required a heavy investment in resources and training, the teachers' union said.

The president of the Malta Union of Teachers, John Bencini said Malta had one of the highest rates of secondary school absenteeism compared to EU countries. About 200 students aged between 15 and 16 were absent from school for long periods last year, along with about 160 students aged 14, he said.

The government launched a consultation process last year on the education reform aimed at easing students' transition from primary to secondary schools. Among the proposals, the reform aimed to eliminate the highly-criticised Junior Lyceum exam. The consultation process will close in a few days.

The union discussed the proposals with its members when the process was launched. The majority of its members felt the authorities' attitude towards the reform was that the proposals were already a fait accompli.

The union and its members agreed with the removal of streaming but pointed out that this warranted more financial and human resources.

If a mixed-ability class was implemented, teachers would need to give more individual attention to students and this required more training and smaller classes, he said.

Teachers and principals also complained about the lack of consultation about the present system while the reform document did not clearly specify a system which would replace streaming, Mr Bencini added.

The document also spoke about a strong student support system. Although the teachers welcomed this proposal, to date, there were only three social workers in the education system. The government had to invest heavily in such services for the reform to succeed.

However, he said, the teachers would make or break the reform.

Mr Bencini pointed out that pupils' assessment, starting from kindergarten, was promised in the collective agreement signed between the union and the government almost two years ago. So far, nothing had been done. Implementing the assessment system would cost time and money: teachers had to be trained and given time to carry out the assessment, he added.

The union called on the government to implement the reform, which it described as a good start, slowly and not to rush and suggested launching pilot projects in two colleges to test them out.