Malta’s education system has one of the best students-per-teacher rates in Europe, with almost nine pupils assigned to every teacher, according to data published by Eurostat.
At 8.8 students for every teacher, the rate is the third-lowest in Europe. It has been on a downward trend since 2013.
Yet, despite having one of the best rates, Malta still struggles with keeping pupils in school and has one of the worst early school leavers figure.
Meanwhile, it also emerged that teachers are finally earning more than the EU average, with their starting salaries showing Malta still falls within the mid-range.
A study by the European Commission, published last week on World Teachers Day, showed that a primary school teacher here had an annual gross salary of €28,174 when calculated in purchasing power standard - a calculation done to eliminate currency discrepancies and allow comparisons between countries.
Where is it going wrong?
According to Carmel Borg, the former dean of the university’s faculty of education, the student-to-teacher ratio should see Malta having the best outcomes, especially when one looks at the investments in the sector.
A European Commission report published in July confirmed the island has one of the highest government expenditures when it came to education.
“So, the obvious question is: Where are things going wrong? Because, on paper, we have the best students-per-teacher ratios, highest spending and, yet, at the same time, we also have one of the worst early school leaving rates,” the university professor said.
“Our research has shown that, ultimately, all that is simply not enough and socio-economic factors still play a major part in our society’s education system.
“These still supersede all our efforts.”
Students coming from families that are below the poverty line, for instance, continue to struggle and COVID, he said, further highlighted this issue.
“Some schools have higher students-per-teacher rates and, yet, the results are better because of the children’s background. Unless we work on making society more just, we will keep struggling to address these issues in education,” Borg said.
Admitting the issue is “complex”, he pointed out that the ratio is theoretically a step in the right direction but there is more that needs to be done.
Union questions validity of data
Malta Union of Teachers head Marco Bonnici dismissed the ratio, saying he had doubts whether this accurately represented the situation in classrooms.
“There are no classes in the country with that ratio. You would have to include all the staff working in schools to come close,” he said.
The union has repeatedly called on the education authorities to address what they say is a widespread shortage of teachers in the sector.
Bonnici also said that although the early school leaving rate is among the worst in Europe, there have been significant improvements in recent years that suggest the island is on the right path.
With regard to remuneration, the average salary of teachers in primary schools across the EU member states stood at €25,633.
While teachers in state and Church schools all have the same starting salaries, irrelevant of what level they teach, the averages varied slightly across the EU. They stood at €26,505 for those in middle school and a slightly higher €27,339 for those in secondary school.
A teacher in Malta earns almost the same as one in Belgium, Ireland and Finland but significantly less than those in Germany, Luxembourg and Denmark, who have the highest salaries in the EU.
Latvia, Slovakia and Hungary pay their teachers the least, according to the report, which covered the 2020 to 2021 scholastic year.
Despite the improvements in recent years, teachers still insist they should be paid more, with their union regularly blaming low pay as a reason for the lack of interest in the profession and, often, behind shortages in the sector.