(Not just) boys falling behind

Last June 2,620 boys completed their secondary education in all the schools of Malta and Gozo. Figures published in parliament (PQ 34,382) also show that the number of girls who completed their secondary education was 2,472.

A glance at this year's Sec exam results shows that boys are performing worse than girls in Government general secondary schools and junior lyceums. In Church schools there is no basic difference in the performance of boys and girls. It is only in the independent schools that boys performed much better than girls.

Only those students who got grades ranging from 1 to 5 are considered as having passed, as lower grades are not considered when applying for jobs or for moving into post-secondary education.

The success rate of Junior Lyceum girls is higher than that of boys. In May 2002, 60% of male students sitting for the English language Sec exam managed to pass compared to the successful 78% of girl candidates. The gap in Maltese is even wider: 86% of girls leaving secondary school obtained a pass compared to 56% of boy school leavers; 17% of girls passed their Computer Studies exam - 1% higher than boys.

In Mathematics the gap widens to 22% as 73% of girls and 51% of boys were successful; 71% of girls passed their Physics exam, 25% more than the boys. We need to understand this gender gap and address it.

In government area secondary schools both boys and girls need to improve their performance, but boys are falling behind girls even in this school sector. Only 5% of boys leaving their area secondary school passed in Maltese. A miserable 2% passed in English.

The pass rate for Mathematics was 3%, for Physics 4% and for Computer Studies 0.7%. Girls did slightly better: Maltese 16%, English 6%, Mathematics 4%, Physics 6% and Computer Studies 2%.

In Church schools the girls did better than boys in English and Maltese: 94% of girl fifth formers passed their exam in English - 10% higher than the 84% pass rate registered by boys; 85% of female students obtained a pass in Maltese, 2% more than boys.

Boys did better than girls in Mathematics as 86% of boys passed with girls slightly behind at 84%. More boys sit for Physics than girls - 81% of boys finishing their secondary education at a Church school passed in Physics, 17% more than girls. The gap is very wide in Computer Studies with 60% of boys passing, while 43% of girls finished their secondary education in a Church school with a Sec pass in Computer Studies.

Only in independent schools did boys perform better than girls in their Sec exams: 44% of boy and 26% of girl school leavers passed in Maltese. The gap is higher in English: 77% for boys and 57% for girls; 55% of boys and 37% of girls passed in Mathematics.

The biggest gap is in Physics, where 54% of boys passed compared to the 22% of girls finishing their secondary education in an independent school; 19% of boy and only 5% of girl school leavers obtained their Sec certificate (Grade 1 to 5) in Computer Studies.

Making schools relevant

Nothing is being done to tackle the problem of boys falling behind in their education. This is an issue which should concern all schools as unqualified and poorly skilled boys will grow into young men who become a problem for themselves and all others around them. Government area secondary schools for boys and boys' junior lyceums should put this issue as one of their main objectives in their school development plan.

But even other schools cannot afford to ignore this problem. Unskilled and unqualified young men get caught in a vicious circle of drugs, crime, domestic violence, unemployment and social exclusion that is best dealt with through preventive social, educational and health policies.

Secondary schools need to change and become more relevant to the needs of the thousands of teenagers who are enrolled in them. These schools should at least succeed in giving these youngsters the basic literacy and technological skills and democratic citizenship competences they need to live and work in the 21st century.

Christine A. Johnston and Gary R. Dainton in their stimulating article 'Death by Classroom: Perpetrators and Victims' analyse the plight of 20-30% of American students "who are dying daily in classrooms across this nation because their talents for learning are not recognised or nurtured".

When they are still in their early years at school these students drop out of an educational system which gets in the way of their education. "These students choose not to participate actively in the 'corral 'em, teach 'em, and test 'em' educational process... The 'brightest and best' are not defined solely by standardised academic achievement but consist of an array of students who deserve the opportunity to use their unique combinations of cognitive, affective and conative strengths to develop their individual learning systems."

Both the winners and losers of the present educational system need different secondary schools. Even those who are succeeding need to succeed differently. The present system is still based on an exam culture which rewards memorisation of information about yesterday when we should be equipping our youngsters for the uncharted waters of tomorrow.

How not to unite Europe

Government informed parliament (PQ 34,616) about the funds given to local organisations to familiarise themselves with European Union institutions. An editorial carried by the London Times a fortnight ago raises a central point which we must reflect on as we decide what kind of relationship we want to build with the EU.

Discussing EU enlargement, The Times (August 9) says: "On many levels this grand political project is in such deep trouble that it may yet again be delayed, or may go ahead only on terms that condemn the newcomers, for years to come, to steerage class on the good ship Europa... The fault lies almost entirely with the EU, not with the candidates - Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, the three Baltic states, Malta and Cyprus. All ten have been forced to accept the costly and hideously complex panoply of EU regulation - 80,000 pages of legislation under 30 separate chapter headings that have to be absorbed into their national laws. They have been set conditions far stiffer than were imposed on earlier, and much richer, applicants for EU membership.

"Yet having agreed to pay all the dues, these countries are being denied many of the club's benefits... A botched enlargement, attempted on the cheap and against the best interests of the applicants, would be a catastrophe to Europe."