The majority of secondary students in state schools have opted to study at least one applied subject from September when reforms to the education system come into force.
A total of 59 per cent of all those in Year 9 opted to be taught hands-on in workshops in subjects like retail, hospitality, media literacy and agribusiness.
In a major shift of the education system as parts of efforts to steer away from a purely academic approach, as from the upcoming scholastic year, State school students in Year 9 (formerly known as Form 3) have the option to follow different subjects.
Students in this cohort must choose two subjects they will learn along with the other four core topics that are compulsory for all students – Maths, English, Maltese and Science.
Confirming the figure, Education Permanent Secretary Frank Fabri admitted that while the authorities have been working on the shift for a number of years, the high number of students opting to study through a more hands-on approach came as a surprise.
“It is the children themselves who confirmed there was a need for the change. I get shivers down my spine when I see the numbers,” Dr Fabri said, insisting this was a positive step. He insisted changes such as these help children “feel good about themselves” while also making it possible to further their studies even after they complete compulsory schooling.
“All the subjects, including the new vocational and applied subjects, lead to an MQF level 3 qualification which is a first in Malta. If a child opted for one of the nine applied subjects, they know that if they work hard, just like with all the other subjects, at the end of secondary school, Matsec will carry out assessment just the same,” he said.
On the take-up of the subjects and whether there were subjects which were found to be more popular than others, Dr Fabri said that while there was good take-up of all the nine subjects, some subjects were chosen by more students.
We took this experience and built upon it because we understand the Maltese culture
This seemed to be the case with subjects that were not entirely new and which students had already been exposed to in some way prior to their choice, he said. The hospitality course, for instance, was a popular choice, possible as a result of people in Malta being generally more informed about it.
Have educators’ concerns been addressed?
Since the shift was announced, educators have expressed concern there might not be enough teachers to cater for the high demand, with some telling The Sunday Times of Malta in recent months they did not have enough information despite the changes being introduced imminently.
Asked about this, Dr Fabri admitted that of the nine subjects, there were four for which teachers were still needed. While not disclosing the subjects in question, the permanent secretary dismissed concerns the issue would not be resolved by the time the school gates reopen next month.
“Interviews are still ongoing for these four subjects. There is a commitment that if there are shortages and there is a teacher out there that can be engaged, we will do so. We will honour this commitment,” Dr Fabri said.
He did not say how the issue would be resolved if there were insufficient teachers.
Instead, he said postponing the roll-out of the new subjects was not an option because that meant a cohort of students would miss the opportunity of being taught through hands-on approaches. Each cohort is usually made up of around 4,500 students.
Earlier this year, The Sunday Times of Malta had revealed hairdressers without any teaching qualifications have been roped in to teach one of the applied subjects.
At the time, teachers said they were surprised to learn that during a 10-day course aimed at equipping qualified teachers with the additional skills they required to teach applied courses, a number of hairdressers who had only ever worked in salons were also in attendance.
Dr Fabri dismissed concerns and defended the decision to bring them in as teachers. He insisted those coming directly from the various industries sometimes had more knowledge on the subject than educators and so it was only a matter of equipping them with the necessary teaching skills.
“In many European countries, there isn’t only one way how someone can become a teacher but there would be different routes to becoming a teacher. There are those who come directly from the industry.
“We took this experience and built upon it because we understand the Maltese culture. So we gave the opportunity to those interested in getting into the teaching profession, we looked at their qualifications and together with Mcast, the Institute of Education and all interested education training providers, we provided them with a top-up programme covering both the content as well as pedagogy training,” he said.
Asked how it was possible that those being brought in from the various industries to be considered as being equipped with the same skills as student teachers despite spending only days in training as opposed to a number of years at university studying pedagogy, Dr Fabri said this was not a fair comparison.
“You are not comparing like with like. When you look at the years spent at university, these included obtaining the knowledge about a specific subject. The people coming in from the industry come with knowledge in the subject. That is why top-up courses are being provided in such cases,” he said.
Pressed further to confirm that the skills obtained by teachers and those brought in from the various different fields were the same, Dr Fabri this was “a sensitive and technical” issue.
“Both could be good. Courses are built around the Bologna Process and there is an agreed benchmark across Europe. This stipulates how many ECTSs [commonly referred to as ‘credits’] one needs to obtain a certain qualification by giving the minimum and maximum amount needed.
“If, for example, for a Master’s degree, you need between 90 and 120 ECTSs, and a training institution designed its courses in a way that students obtain the maximum amount but, hypothetically, another provider offers a Master’s degree but with 100 ECTSs, and both are accredited and certified by the national regulator, that is still valid,” he explained.
The issue was not only about how long one spent in training, Dr Fabri said, but about what is done during the time spent in training.
New applied core subjects postponed to next year
Meanwhile, the introduction of the applied versions of the four core subjects – Maths, English, Maltese and Science – is being postponed to next year, Dr Fabri has confirmed.
The Sunday Times of Malta reported last month that applied versions of the four core subjects would not be rolled out in September, as originally planned.
While sources had claimed the uptake of these four subjects was very low, prompting the education authorities to rethink their introduction, Dr Fabri said this was not the case.
The authorities, he claimed, were all set to go but following talks with the Malta Union of Teachers on certain issues and which stalled for months as the two sides could not come to an agreement, it was decided that “a step back” would be taken.
“We understood the evolving circumstances and in order to avoid unnecessary issues that might easily damage the education profession, we decided to take a step back and postpone the launch to next year,” he said, adding that the issues were essentially unrelated to the four core subjects.
Union reacts
Reacting to the uptake numbers, MUT president Marco Bonnici said the ministry has been “confident for months that there will be an overwhelming uptake in all applied subjects both in terms of students and teachers”.
“However, the situation was that it was begging students and teachers to take the new subjects. There was an intensive campaign to showcase the new labs and facilities, something which was not carried out to showcase for example other option subjects or the teaching profession to try to attract more youth to join.”
On the four core applied subjects, Mr Bonnici said it was clear that the uptake from teachers was going to be “a major issue”.
“This was confirmed when proposed syllabi were passed to teachers and the overwhelming feedback was that syllabi were not designed for the abilities of students being targeted but were much above their abilities,” he said, adding there were no teachers who wanted to teach these four subjects.