The government has launched an extensive revamp of the education system, involving grouping state primary schools, area secondary schools and junior lyceums into autonomous regional colleges.
Education Minister Louis Galea yesterday said the concept would come into effect in September when the first three colleges - Cottonera, Karwija and Gozo - would start functioning.
Dr Galea explained that the idea behind colleges, or school networks, was to bring together a number of 'feeder' primary schools and a 'receiving' secondary school in a bid to ensure more continuity in the education that pupils in state schools received, similar to a system that existed in Church colleges or private schools.
The new framework would bring about a quality leap in education in schools, Dr Galea said.
Cottonera College, for example, would include the Cospicua, Senglea, Kalkara and Vittoriosa primary schools. These would feed the Boys' Junior Lyceum in Verdala, the Boys' Area Secondary and the Girls' Area Secondary.
Girls from Cottonera primaries would attend junior lyceums in other areas until adequate premises are provided in the area.
State schools in other localities would also be grouped into horizontal networks of schools, which operated on the same level. There would be colleges bringing together primary schools, colleges consisting of both area secondary schools and junior lyceums, and another college grouping boys' and girls' learning centres.
The different forms of school networks would be turned into regional colleges, like the ones in Cottonera, Karwija and Gozo, once new schools were built to receive pupils coming out of primary schools of neighbouring localities.
The junior lyceum exam would be retained in the new system, Dr Galea said. However, it would undergo changes so that assessment took account of various aspects of the pupils' abilities.
Pupils who passed their junior lyceum exam and those who did not would undertake different syllabi, even if they went to the same school.
According to the new plans, each college - which is to be given a legal statute and autonomous governance - would have a principal and a board of governors responsible for managing schools. Each school within the network would retain its head of school, who would sit on a heads of school council. Colleges would each have an administrator, a precincts officer and supporting staff to manage technical and maintenance aspects.
Dr Galea said that through the new system, school heads would be in a better position to be professional education leaders. By reducing their administrative work, the system was giving heads a greater chance to concentrate on the implementation of the National Curriculum and on evaluating quality.
On a central level, the new system would see the Education Division split into two entities with distinct functions. The Malta Education Directorate, the regulator, would ensure quality standards through devising policies and the national minimum curriculum. It would also perform the function of an external auditor for schools.
The Educational Services Directorate, the operator, would ensure that the colleges be equipped with the resources needed in a framework of autonomy, decentralisation and accountability. The Education Standing Committee, chaired by the Education Minister, would establish the direction and ensure that the system is properly co-ordinated.
The possibility of having mixed secondary schools had been consciously put aside, the minister said. Experience abroad showed that students performed better when they were in a boys' or girls' school rather than when they were in a mixed school.
Asked whether streaming would be retained, Dr Galea said this was a simplistic system, which measured children's abilities only on an academic count, but he would not be committing himself on whether the current streaming system would be retained or discarded.
The ministry planned to move towards "a credible system of national assessment at various phases of primary and secondary education", to be implemented all over Malta, and not just in state schools, he said.
Discussions would be held with Church and private schools to enter into a partnership with the state school networks.
The Education Ministry has published a document entitled 'For All Children To Succeed', which will be up for discussion till September. Besides being distributed to all school heads and teachers, it would be discussed by the parliamentary Social Affairs Committee.
More information about the plan can be seen on www.education.gov.mt/networks.htm
New education set-up
The Cottonera College - the Cospicua, Senglea, Kalkara and Vittoriosa primary schools would form part of this network, along with the Boys' Junior Lyceum in Verdala, the Boys' Area Secondary and the Girls' Area Secondary. Girls from these primary schools would attend junior lyceums in other areas until adequate premises are provided in the area.
The Gozo College - All 11 state primary schools, as well as the arts, drama and music schools, and the Sannat special unit, would form part of this college, which is to incorporate the two State secondary schools (Junior Lyceum and Area Secondary) in Victoria.
The Karwija College - the Birzebbuga, Ghaxaq, Gudja, Kirkop, Qrendi, Mqabba, Safi and Zurrieq primaries would form part of this college, together with the new secondary school at Kirkop. Girls coming out of primary schools from this district would for now continue to attend other junior lyceums until a new school is built in the area.
Primary and Secondary Colleges - until the system is in place throughout the country, primary and secondary schools and junior lyceums should be grouped in networks according to their levels. Therefore, there will be colleges for primary schools and colleges consisting of both area secondary schools and junior lyceums.
The Arts College - drama, music and arts schools would, under the new system, be grouped in one college. The Johann Strauss School of Music, Mikelang Borg Drama School and the School of Art Malta would for part of this college function in the same way as they are today. Collecting all arts schools under an umbrella organisation, however, could make it possible for students to follow the normal curriculum with an early specialisation in one art form or sport.
A Learning Centres' Network - a number of these centres would be developed into a network where students needing special attention could be given specialised and multi-disciplinary support, which would enable them to go back to their colleges as soon as possible. Mater Dei centre and St Patrick's Craft centre would be included in this network.
A Centre for Special Needs - the government's ultimate aim is that special schools, such as Dun Manwel Attard School, San Miguel Ferbes Cordero School, Helen Keller and Guardian Angel schools, become part of the regional colleges. Until this happens, these centres would be brought together as Resource Centres for Students with Special Needs.