July would not be July without a fuss over educational standards. As the education authorities analyse SEC exam results, claims that standards are falling sound alarming.

So, is our education system passing or failing the test of enhancing young people’s chances of success in the years they spend studying?

The headline news from the number crunching of SEC May exam results reveals that the number of students passing their O-levels exam is falling.

Twenty per cent received an unclassified ‘U’ grade. More students failed or were registered as absent from their exams than in the same month last year.

Education Minister Clifton Grima said he was “definitely not” satisfied with this year’s O-level performance, adding: “We want to work so that every child that sits for exams has the necessary tools to achieve results.”

Like education ministers before him, Grima wants to “reform” the system, arguing: “We are planning that 30 per cent of the student’s final grade (O-level) will come from the teacher’s assessment in the last three years of secondary schools.”

Some educators would argue that this simplistic solution may improve statistics that will please politicians. Still, it will hardly address the root causes of the endemic underperformance of the education system.

Malta scores poorly in the PISA indicators that compare young students’ educational achievement in reading, mathematics and science in the different OECD countries. In the 2018 ranking, Malta scored lower than the OECD average on the more critical achievement indicators.

Education policymakers must conduct a soul-searching exercise to identify the root causes of the flaws in our education system. A key measure of any education system is whether children have developed personally and emotionally, not simply in the academic results. Education should offer people the chance to think for themselves. It should involve children in analysing information, working out ideas and arguing their case.

We need to ask ourselves whether the traditional education system might have kept course materials up to date over the years but still focused too intensely on competition, coercion and cramming, instead of collaboration, communication and conceptualisation.

Policymakers need to ask whether students are seen in terms of numbers in the current system and not as persons. We have made a habit of determining a student’s success value primarily based on how well they do on standardised tests.

Most schools squeeze 30 students in a classroom and, if they collectively seem to fall behind, either the schools start trying to manipulate the rules or make the subject matter and tests easier. This risk must be avoided as dumbing the education system does not go well when comparing results with other countries.

Our students need to have access to quality education and teachers. It is no hidden fact that not all teachers are equally skilled.

The best graduates often choose to work in a private industry where work conditions and pay are better than those offered by educational institutions. This must change. Teachers need to be well-qualified, motivated, skilled and updated with modern education trends to provide the best quality education to students.

We cannot keep procrastinating a root-and-branch reform of the system by tweaking it with politically expedient tactics. The present education system is driven by fear of examinations. It must become more focused on the love of learning and critical thinking.