Countries with large reserves of ore, petroleum or rare earth minerals can leverage the abundance to transform and advance their nation’s economies. A nation that is bereft of any natural resources, on the other hand, can only rely on citizens’ potential to generate wealth.

We Maltese have no minerals we can extract and sell on the world market. Instead, we Maltese have built our nation through fortitude, hard work and sheer intellect.

Malta relied heavily on its chance geographical location to build itself from a nondescript rock into a nation of geopolitical importance, offering safe harbour for shipping in the Mediterranean. The turn of the millennium, though, has exposed challenges to our nation that cannot be postponed without endangering the achievements attained thus far.

As the world shrank, and more jobs and products transferred to the World Wide Web, there is less need for low-cost manufacturing and mass tourism. We islanders must look towards reinventing ourselves and help position our nation’s future livelihood through high value-added economic activity.

The education system is the bulwark of our present and future. The fact that the Maltese have the highest per capita investment in education, yet, score miserably in every global benchmark and reputable ranking system shows that the hefty investment is missing its target.

We need to comprehend that education is not schooling. The need to educate must go much deeper than simply financing compulsory and tertiary education free for all. If we truly need to move forward, in the face of intense competition in the world markets, we need to make a quantum leap in the quality of education provided throughout our lifetime.

In the psyche of the Maltese, education does not have any worth. The fact that schools are free give the illusion that there is no cost behind the provision. Families do not need to budget for their children’s schooling and, thus, there is no insistence for value for money.

In the eyes of the majority of the Maltese, education is a valueless and unappreciated necessity deemed as a ‘given’ with a sense of complacency.

It is no wonder, therefore, that socials’ and news portals’ comments are full of scandalous mutterings about teachers’ demand for respect and a good compensation for their troubles. Compare this to the readiness to pay hefty medical or legal bills, commonly in the tens of euros, for a short visit.

Professions fought tooth and nail to keep their title of doctor, even though their studies entail the same number of years student teachers spend reading for their undergraduate and master degrees before they attain their teacher’s warrant. Who imagines that a medical practitioner or lawyer would work for a remuneration of €12.50 an hour while attending to the needs of 20 or so simultaneous clients?

Since schooling is now a commodity where the consumer does not pay, because someone else is, the sector is gripped by repeated bland policies that determine curriculum and salaries across all schools. Exceptional teachers that go out of their way do not have the means to demand rewards for doing more, being better. The bad apples in the staff room rot the system from its very core. Fresh graduates go into the profession wanting to be the best but, as soon as they start their day-to-day rote, realise that their efforts will amount to nothing and it pays best to conform.

This state of affairs has resulted in failure after failure in the achievements of our children when compared to those of other countries- Charles Theuma

No school has the potential of building its own character with teachers and administrators moved and shifted around at whim. There is no staying power to develop centres of excellence in education.

This state of affairs has resulted in failure after failure in the achievements of our children when compared to those of other countries.

The solution is clear.

There must be an appreciation that education is the most valuable asset we can give to future generations. Therefore, it requires the lion’s share in targeted and focused investment in professional teachers who truly feel the vocation.

There should be a consensus between all the political parties that represent the nation – education is the national priority and, therefore, successive ministers are obliged to manage under a pre-agreed strategy that encompasses decades, developed by experts and technocrats in the field.

I am of the firm opinion that teachers should be given the freedom to use their talents gained from the ‘old’ teacher college system and the Bachelor of Education that needs to make a comeback for teachers in compulsory education.

Priority in this degree programme would be the pedagogical skills, the psychology of education and the wellbeing of children, evaluating the budding teachers’ empathy and teaching abilities above all else.

These teachers should be specialists in education and generalists in the subject matter they teach. The strategy should reassess the national curriculum to eliminate subject silos and, instead, teach our youngsters the wider concepts of science, languages, classics, sports, community obligations and provide lots of space for life-skills subject matter.

On the other hand, the postgraduate pedagogy programmes for subject specialists who wish to be involved at post compulsory levels higher than MQF level 3 are to remain open. This is where students will face specialisation and where their teachers need to be honed specialists in their respective subjects, using a different pedagogy that is oriented towards young and not-so-young adults. After all education is lifelong.

Build a framework of discipline and code of ethics that will gain respect and gratitude from society for the benefit provided to society by the teaching profession. And, of course, allow teachers to enjoy the same financial incentives as those who are allowed to compete in a free market rather than in a rigid monopolistic sector.

What is paid for through effort has value, what comes free is deemed as valueless. The Maltese have managed to make valueless that which is most valuable to the well-being of the nation.

Charles Theuma is principal of Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education.