Value for money in education

Education Minister Louis Galea recently announced that this month he will table a strategic education plan in Cabinet and then submit it for discussion by all interested parties and by Parliament. Such a plan is long overdue, given that the majority of the Maltese people consistently rank education among their top national priorities.

A sound education is widely recognised as essential to securing a good job and becoming a responsible and contributing citizen but some 5.5 per cent of our population still lacks schooling while 29 per cent have only had a primary education. Of those pursuing a post-secondary education, only 54 per cent go beyond their O levels and of these a mere 2.8 per cent obtain a technical qualification.

If I were asked what an education plan should be designed to do I would not hesitate to say that it should aim to change the culture of Malta's schools by closing the achievement gap, offering more flexibility, giving parents more options and teaching students based on what works.

My plan would require all the stakeholders to make sure that all students, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic proficiency. It would dictate that schools must produce regular reports that inform parents and communities about school progress. Schools that do not make progress would have to provide supplemental services, such as free tutoring or after-school assistance; take corrective actions and, if still not making adequate yearly progress after five years, make dramatic changes to the way the school is run.

My plan would allow schools to use a good proportion of the funds allocated to them (not less than 40 per cent) as they deem fit to: hire the best teachers, pay them according to their performance, improve teacher quality and professional development, implement educational technology, introduce innovative programmes and put in place drug-free school programmes.

My plan would put special emphasis on determining what educational programmes and practices have been proven effective through scientific research so that funds may be targeted to support those programmes and teaching methods that work to improve student learning and achievement.

Parents with children in schools that do not meet state standards for at least two consecutive years would have the right to transfer their children to a better-performing school. If they did so, the state would provide transportation. Students from low-income families in schools that fail to meet state standards for at least three years would be eligible to receive supplemental educational services, including tutoring and after-school services.

Some major strategic directions and objectives I would set would be to:

¤ Create a culture of achievement throughout the nation's education system. Specifically, it would put reading first, expand high quality mathematics and science teaching, reform schools and boost teacher and principal quality, thereby closing the achievement gap.

¤ Strengthen the quality of educational research.

¤ Establish safe, disciplined and drug-free educational environments that foster the development of good character and citizenship and increase opportunities for students and the effectiveness of institutions.

¤ Create a culture of accountability throughout the Department of Education, transforming it into a high-performance organisation by focusing on results, service quality and customer satisfaction.

Performance indicators would be embedded in the plan. Using the indicators will hold the Education Department and individual schools accountable for results. So all parties having deliverables would be fully committed to implementing a comprehensive performance measurement system. They would have to demonstrate to Parliament and the taxpayers that our nation's resources are being invested and managed wisely in order to achieve educational excellence.

At the same time, all concerned would have a special obligation to ensure that all students have the opportunity to achieve the challenging standards of educational excellence. This commitment would require that resources and activities are focused on students who risk educational failure due to the disadvantages they face.

Naturally, the plan would set very specific goals and performance indicators. Some, but certainly by way of a small sample, would include:

Goal: All students will be helped to reach challenging academic standards so that they are prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning and productive employment.

The key performance indicators could include:

1. Increasing percentages of all students who meet or exceed basic, proficient and advanced performance levels in national assessments of reading, maths and other core subjects.

2. Students in at-risk-of-poverty schools will show continuous improvement in achieving proficiency levels comparable to those for the nation.

3. School attendance and certification rates will continually improve.

4. Within five years, 25 per cent of all students will attend a school that they or their parents have chosen.

Goal: Build a solid foundation for learning for all children. Reform efforts need to focus on three main areas: promoting family and community efforts to support children's early development and education, to ensure that all children have an appropriate preparation for school; identifying what students will need to know and be able to do in core subject areas and what strategies are effective in improving instruction; programmes and efforts must focus on enabling all students to master fundamental and advanced reading and maths skills.

The key performance indicators could include:

1. The percentage of children from birth to five years old whose parents read to them or tell them stories regularly will continually increase.

2. Within five years, at least 25 per cent of students will participate in a national reading test; increasing percentages thereafter.

Goal: Ensure access to post-secondary education and lifelong learning. All students will leave secondary schools with the academic background and preparation to pursue post-secondary education. All students motivated and academically ready to attend post-secondary education will have the financial resources and support services needed to do so.

Some key performance indicators could include:

1. Certification rates for all students will improve, while the gap in completion rates between low- and high-income students will decrease.

2. Within five years the literacy skills of adults will improve as shown by significantly fewer adults performing at the lowest proficiency level in national assessments.

Goal: Make the Education Department a high-performance organisation by focusing on results, quality and customer satisfaction. To become a high-performance organisation, the department must become "results and accountability driven". This will happen when it identifies its customers and meets or surpasses their needs and set goals and establishes or improves its performance measurement systems to track progress.

Some key performance indicators could include:

1. Within five years, 75 per cent of the department's officials will agree that staff knowledge and skills are adequate to carry out the department's mission.

2. Evaluation of contracts will indicate that better than fully successful performance, including quality, cost control, timeliness, and other factors, is being received by the government and the taxpayer.

Of course, governments like to begin things, to declare grand new programmes and causes. But good beginnings are not the measure of success. What matters in the end is completion; that is performance and results. So, my final recommendation to Minister Galea and the MUT, which has already rumbled about the strategic plan, is: Don't just make promises but make good on your promises.