The opposition spokesman on education, George Pullicino, said today that he personally agreed that school-leaving age should be raised from 16 to 18, a view previously expressed by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo.

But, he told parliament, that this should only be decided after consultations and implementation should be gradual and in a sustained manner.

Speaking during the Budget debate, Mr Pullicino said the school age could be discussed within a wider discussion on reforming the transition between secondary and post-secondary school.

Such a reform, he said, would be a natural follow-up to the reform made by the former government in the transition from primary to secondary schools.

He said that the government should also consider paying teachers at Giovanni Curmi upper-secondary school at the same level as teachers in Junior College. 

In other parts of his speech, Mr Pullicino said the Education Ministry was sometimes taking decisions and then making u-turns on the basis of popular reaction, examples being the distribution of books on same sex relations and the White Paper proposal on adjustment of school hours because of traffic jams.

He hit out at the government for lowering standards for the recognition of universities saying the Commissioner for Higher Education was now a puppet.

He said student services, such as assessments by the CDAU were taking longer. School heads were burdened by administrative work and some complained of interference, even by officials of the minister's secretariat. 

He said the government was not building a new school every year, as was the case before, and the capital allocation had decreased. He asked whether it was true that the tender for student tablet computers was still being drafted.

He also asked how, in the Budget speech, the Finance Minister had announced government funds for an expansion of the Miriam Al Batool School but no funds were actually allocated in the Estimates.

Concluding, Mr Pullicino called for stronger bridges between schools and families. The good work done at school should not be lost at home and the ministries of education and social policy needed to work closer together in this area, he said.

'Hysterics' over books - minister

In his reply, Education Minister said he would not allow hysterics, such as the controversy over the books (on same sex relationships), deviate from the promotion in schools of inclusivity and diversity. Nothing would be imposed, he said, but it was important that young people were able to accept diversity. Many young people were bullied, some had committed suicide, because other people would not accept diversity, he said.

Mr Bartolo said a new law would lead to greater autonomy for the schools and measures would be taken to reduce administrative work in schools, shifting it to head office instead. A new agreement being negotiated with the MUT would cater for the moral and practical difficulties caused by a one size fits all system which had harmed pupils, teachers, parents, the employment sector and society. Children were different, they learnt in different methods and different programmes should therefore be available for them, he said.

The minister spoke on investment in schools and said smaller, more user friendly schools were being built, which promoted a community spirit.

He said all-in-one computers will be installed in all classrooms, linked to whiteboards so that no time would be wasted by teachers having to start up and link their own computers. Networks in schools would also be improved in a €4m investment. The Tablets project, he said, was an educational tool that would be phased in gradually because it was a culture change.

Mr Bartolo listed the various projects being carried out by his ministry and underscored the importance of reading and of pupils learning a third language.

He said an agreement has been reached with Cambridge English Assessment of the University of Cambridge to gauge the level of English being attained by Maltese students, so that the necessary decisions would then be taken for progress in this area.

Mr Bartolo denied that tertiary level education standards have been lowered.

He said the funds for the extension of the Miriam Al Batool School would come from the Foundation for Tomorrow's School.

The minister did not speak on school-leaving age.