When Labour is in government, two issues seem to always dominate our life: corruption and an education catastrophe. These go hand in hand since one cannot envisage a corrupt-free country with a poorly- educated population.

According to recent statistics from the NSO, 50 per cent of Malta’s population has a low level of education.

This scholastic year is the third consecutive COVID-disturbed school year, hence educators and parents were confident that, this time round, the education minister would have a sound strategic approach as schools opened.

In fact, the ministry wasn’t hounded to state how schools were going to operate since all those who were very proactive last year presumed that this experience would be the ‘new normal’ and that this year would be even better. Yet, a new normal with a shortage of teachers cannot be acceptable.

I am now of the opinion that last year’s success cannot be attributed to the ministry but to all those involved in schools, such as administrators, educators and students who managed to adapt exceptionally.

It is evidently clear that the ministry was never prepared for another scholastic year and turning to peripatetic and complementary teachers to fill primary classrooms is not the solution.

One simply cannot expect a teacher who had been teaching PSCD, PE, art or music for several years to do the job properly without months of planning ahead. The ministry is simply not interested in the well-being of teachers or in high-quality teaching.

As Norman Peale, the American author, once said: the trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by false praise than saved by criticism. This is a sad truth about too many of us. If we have a bad hair day, do we want to hear that we looked like a scarecrow or do we want to be told that we looked good or, at least, ok? If we did something badly, would we rather hear praise for how wonderful we were or be told we need to work on it some more?

It is evidently clear that the education ministry was never prepared for another scholastic year- Justin Schembri

Sadly, constructive criticism gets you nowhere in Malta because we are not courageous enough to tell the truth or to accept that we are not doing the right job. With our ears ringing with adulation, it’s hard to consider how we might improve; instead we have become mediocre. Yes, unfortunately mediocrity has taken over in education and has become the accepted norm.

For the sake of our future, we must understand that the future in education here in Malta looks bleak. As we forge ahead into another scholastic year, we started off with 150 classes without a teacher. You may ask, is it 80 or 150? Ask Justyne Caruana. She knows the truth but she underrates it time and time again, as much as she underrates the right to unions to speak up.

The truth is, we do not have enough teachers and students are not taking up teaching courses at the University. This boils down to the lack of respect for education and educators in Malta.

A few days ago, the MUT warned about taking action after the “most messy teacher deployment exercise in the last decade”, where teachers providing essential services such as literacy and nurture support and complementary teachers, among others, were transferred to primary classes in a desperate attempt to solve an impending crisis.

What Caruana is not understanding is that education is not about just ensuring that classes are attended to by a ‘teacher’ but also ensuring that our educators are motivated and enriched to provide our students with the best educational experience possible.

Caruana played to the “prosit ministru” applause in the weeks leading to the opening of schools. She took us for a ride when she said everything is under control even if we are facing a crisis. Our children deserve better.

Justinschembri.com