MATSEC statistics

THE MATSEC Examination Board have published the annual Statistical Report for the Matriculation Certificate Examinations 2004. The publication presents statistical data that cover many aspects of the examination that should interest students, teachers, researchers and educational policy makers.

Professor Frank Ventura, chairman of the MATSEC Examinations Board, states that "while going through the report, it should be obvious that the publication is based on a team effort by the academic and administrative staff at the MATSEC Support Unit".

No doubt the report required a significant amount of administrative work and probably could only be made possible through excellent computer services and staff dedication. One now needs to go a step forward. One does need some "intelligence" input into the report.

Dr Grace Grima, the principal research and development officer, who was responsible for the organisation of the data and the writing of the report, now needs to move on urgently to more statistical data and also to an in-depth analysis of what happened to the students who sat for the MATSEC examinations.

The Matriculation Certificate System of examinations serves also as the entrance examination to the University. How many students are not joining the University because they fail to obtain the Matsec certificate? How many are not joining the course of their choice because they do not satisfy the special course requirements? How many are becoming frustrated professionals because they joined the course that had less stringent course requirements?

How many courses are labelled as inferior or for "low achievers", probably unfairly, because they require lower grades in their entry course requirements? How many students are allowed to join certain courses and are now struggling along because Senate imposed lower grades for admission to one particular course and higher grades to another against the recommendation of the relevant faculty Board? How many students had to join a course which was not their first choice because the University arbitrarily imposes a numerus clausus in certain courses but not in others?

Furthermore, have the Matsec academics checked whether the examination actually examines what is needed by the various courses? Let us take the case of biology, one of the most popular subjects taken at A-level, and which had 123 candidates (out of a total of 354) obtaining an A or B. Grades A or B are the minimum required to join the medical course. Are any consultations going on to verify whether the professors in the Faculties of Medicine and Science are satisfied with the level of biology with which students are being allowed to join these courses? The same goes for chemistry and physics.

If one had to raise the grades at the A-level entry requirement to those needed to join the medical course, would that mean that fewer than 123 students would be able to join a course that specifies biology in its entry requirements? It is important to realise that it is not only those joining the course of Medicine who are required to have a sound basis in the sciences but also those joining all other science-based courses including those that prepare our future secondary school science teachers. Otherwise we will never solve our dilemma of having too few students showing excellence in the sciences.

Sticking to biology as an example, 123 students obtaining an A or B in Biology is just too low a number. Ways should be found to improve the standards in the sciences and not just to decide to admit the students with lower grades. It is said that most faculties in other European universities specifying biology as a course entry requirements would require a B or equivalent as a minimum. Can the Matsec Board give us such an analysis and comparisons of how our students' standards rate in comparison to other European countries? This will indeed be helpful to the educators to work on any remedial action that needs to be taken.

It was heartening to note that a significantly high number of students are opting to sit for A-level in Pure Mathematics (539 candidates). But unfortunately one is also witnessing a high number of failures in this subject (142 obtaining A and B).

Professor Stanley Fiorini writing in The Times last Wednesday, mentions that Malta is the country in the EU with the lowest output of science students and that we should also invest in something that successfully helps our students choose courses that lead to good job opportunities in the future.

The Chalmers report attempted to address these problems. However, it failed to come up with clear proposals. Again, one must emphasise that the answer to the need to increase science students is not the lowering of entry requirements for the science courses. Such an action could result in that these "professionals" will not be the best role models for future scientists. Such a remedy in increasing numbers at the expense of lowering standards in the long term produces the opposite result, namely that of attracting fewer students to the sciences and in this way commencing a chain reaction in lowering standards.

A serious determined investment in science education is needed, leaving no stone unturned, starting from kindergarten and going through primary, secondary and tertiary education. One must make full use of the media and increase the quest for science by investing in proper laboratories and in such ventures as a state-of-the-art interactive science museum.

One must acknowledge that some work on this line has been done, for example, by establishing the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST). But it must be realised that however laudable these efforts, they can only be considered as a drop in the ocean when compared to the global developments in the world of science. Malta must accelerate its efforts, and the investment to develop the sciences must be made without further delay if we are to keep up with the developments taking place in the present and potential future EU members.

One final positive suggestion is for the University to provide a pre-sciences year, to enable those who need to upgrade their grades in the science Advanced Level subjects to do so, namely, by offering an intermediate year to go between the Junior College and the University.