Maltese students are falling short in basic skills, but higher education attainment continues to grow, according to the European Commission’s 2022 Education and Training Monitor.
The report tracks EU countries’ progress towards education goals.
Students underachieving in basic skills
In Malta, a third of 15-year-olds do not have minimum proficiency in maths, reading, and science, with boys underperforming more than girls, according to the report.
The issue spans socio-economic groups, with nearly half of students from disadvantaged backgrounds lacking basic skills. Even among students from wealthier families, under-achievement persists, with rates of 17.2% in maths, 19.9% in reading, and 14.2% in science.
Students attending state schools struggle the most, with 40.6% of students lacking basic maths skills.
Church schools fare slightly better at 25.5%, while independent schools perform best, with only 16.7% underachieving.
Conversely, the highest top performance rate is found in independent schools (17.1%), followed by Church schools (7.1%) and state schools (5%).
“These results also reflect the unequal distribution of students from disadvantaged and advantaged socio-economic backgrounds across independent, church and state schools, pointing to a stratified school system by students’ socio-economic status,” the report says. It emphasised the need for targeted support to schools with higher proportions of disadvantaged students.
One in four report bullying
The report also highlights the link between student wellbeing and academic outcomes.
The report says one in four students reported being bullied at least a few times a month, while only 63.6% of Maltese students feel they belong at school—the lowest rate in the EU. Those who felt a sense of belonging scored an average of 25 points higher than their peers.
Truancy rates, however, have seen improvement, dropping by 16 percentage points since 2018.
Nonetheless, 28.5% of students reported skipping at least one day of school in the preceding two weeks.
Vocational education and higher education
Malta’s vocational education participation remains stagnant at 27.8%, far below the EU average of 54.2%. On a more positive note, work-based learning is on the rise, with 55.4% of graduates aged 20-34 having been exposed to such programmes, edging closer to the EU target of 60% by 2025.
Higher education attainment has surged in recent years. Almost half (46.3%) of Maltese 25-to-34-year-olds now hold a tertiary qualification, surpassing the EU average of 43.1% and exceeding Malta’s 2030 target of 45%.
Despite this success, Malta lags in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, with only 15.4% of graduates earning degrees in those fields, compared to the EU average of 26.6%.
Gender disparities are also notable: only three in 10 STEM graduates are women, and just 8.1% of female graduates pursued STEM qualifications in 2022.
Lifelong learning and labour market alignment
Progress was also seen in lifelong learning, with 39.9% of adults aged 25-64 engaged in education and training in 2022, up from 32.8% in 2016.
However, participation remains uneven, with 65.9% of highly educated individuals engaging in lifelong learning compared to just 16.3% of adults with low qualifications.
Malta’s labour market also faces significant skill mismatches despite high employment rates.
“Despite a high employment rate in Malta, horizontal and vertical skills mismatches are prevalent, while there are also significant shortages in certain sectors, including transport, professional services, ICT, tourism, hospitality and retail, and manufacturing,” the report says.