Maltese schoolchildren feel most pressured - WHO survey

Maltese children feel bogged down by schoolwork though they like school in general, a survey of 35 countries carried out by the World Health Organisation has shown.

Eighty-six per cent of 15-year-old boys and 70 per cent of girls in the same age group feel pressured by schoolwork, double the average and the highest among the countries surveyed.

The report, published recently and entitled Health Behaviour In School-Aged Children, consisted of a collaborative cross-national survey of over 162,000 young people aged 11, 13 and 15 in 35 countries.

The survey covered the physical, emotional and psychological aspects of young people in 35 countries in the WHO European and North American region.

Pressure seems greatest in young people across all three age groups in Lithuania and Malta, while the Dutch, the Austrians and the Belgians feel the least pressure.

The report concludes that the increase in school pressure may be related to the growing importance of achieving good grades in examinations.

Sixty-two per cent of 11-year-old Maltese children say they like school "a lot", ranking behind Macedonia where a staggering 89 per cent shared the same affection. Thirteen year-olds have different views with only 18 per cent of Maltese and 22 per cent of 15-year-olds saying they like school.

Maltese schoolchildren, it seems, like patting themselves on the back with 80 per cent of 11-year-olds and 70 per cent of 15-year-olds believing they are performing well at school.

The survey has confirmed the still closely-knit Maltese family, with 93 per cent of the Maltese children saying they lived with both parents, the highest among the 35 countries.

In general, young people in all age groups and across all countries and regions find it easier to talk to their mothers than to their fathers. In all countries, girls have more difficulty than boys in talking to their fathers. By the age of 15, less than half of girls in over two thirds of the countries report easy communication with their fathers. For boys aged 15, the same is true only for Malta.

The rates of 13-year-olds meeting with friends after school on a regular basis are more than 60 per cent in Greenland and Malta, and less than 30 per cent in Belgium, Greece and Sweden.

The survey also confirms that Malta has one of the highest number of vehicles per capita. Thirty-five per cent of those questioned said their family owned one car, and 62 per cent said they had two or more, the fourth highest among the 35 countries.

On the other hand, Maltese children travel abroad the least, with 59 per cent saying that they had not travelled in the previous 12 months.