From quality to equity in education

Education in Malta has reached a stage where quality in educational provision has increasingly become the focus point in public statements, policies and school practices, generally. The movement from education for all (EFA) to quality education is evident and in many cases tangibly felt.

The most recent expression of this qualitative leap in our educational system is the policy document titled For All Children to Succeed (Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment, 2005). And a relevant comment which easily comes to mind is that made by Charles Mizzi, then Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, in the sense that "the point of arrival (is) the generation of child-centred schools who occupy centre stage within the system and a centre that perceives itself as being at the periphery supporting the quality (present writer's emphasis) of educational provision" (Address to Senior Leadership and Administrative Team, June 3, 2004).

That quality is the heart of consistent policies and efforts by education providers in Malta, during these last years - from the Ministry to the University of Malta right across to the Education Division to teachers and parents - is undeniable.

Among the various steps in this direction, major "skills transfer exercises" considered as milestone initiatives include: the focusing on learners' competencies in contrast with subject content, as suggested in the fundamental principles of the National Curriculum (1999), the development and introduction of Level Descriptors for all subjects, which should make a difference in the offered and received curriculum, the introduction of internal evaluation and school-based policies which are consonant with School Development Planning, the re-foundation of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), and the setting in motion of external evaluation of education provision through school audits.

Inroads into quality education so far may, however, be enhanced if we were to further explore equity issues in the system. Quality and equity are two mutually reinforcing concepts; quality is to be tempered with equity if it needs to acquire its full meaning. Both aspects should characterise our education system.

The document Tomorrow's Schools: Developing Effective Cultures submitted to the Ministry of Education by the Consultative Committee on Education in 1995 has already raised the importance of equity in curricular provisions when it dealt with students' entitlement to quality education. Since then, there has been a marked development with landmark initiatives on quality learning already acknowledged. Past experiences and present strategies, however, should serve as a sound basis for exploring the issue of equity even further.

The call for equity is not to shift the argument for quality education but to enrich and move the discussion forward. The centrality of the learner in the system, with importance given to personal meanings, values and perspectives, indicates that this should be our next step.

Drawing on indicators in the European Commission document titled Equity in the European Educational Systems: a set of indicators (2003) - a project supported by the European Commission Directorate General of Education and Culture - a few reflections on equity in the local educational system may be attempted. An introductory consideration of the key concepts of equality and equity is required.

Equality and equity

'Equity' is a more difficult concept than 'equality'. Providing the condition of being equal or, what is commonly held, equal opportunities, is the most widely accepted principle of equity or justice in education. According to Rawls, however, this is questionable. In A Theory of Justice (1971), he argues that "those who are at the same level of talent and ability, and have the same willingness to use them, should have the same prospects of success, regardless of their initial place in the social system".

But how can talent, ability and desire be measured or assessed in a comprehensive way? And, does equity or fairness require exact equality of school careers between social groups? These and similar criticisms point to the fact that studying equity requires a multi-dimensional critical analysis. For ease of analysis, the concept of equity as proposed by the European Commission Report is taken as basis for this discussion. This means understanding equity as "a fair educational system... that treats all pupils as equals and which aims to encourage a fair society, in which essential assets are distributed in accordance with the rules of justice and which encourages co-operation on an equal footing" (p. 12).

Such an understanding may be restated in the following provisions:

¤ educational provisions or assets are to be equally distributed,

¤ inequalities should be minimised,

¤ respect of the equality of persons and equality in dignity is to be guaranteed,

¤ equity in the educational system should help to foster a just social context in which the system functions.

The Commission Report views these under the broad headings of: Equality of access or opportunity; Equality of treatment; Equality of achievement; Equality of social output.

This may provide a just setting for a deeper reflection on the road travelled so far and on future possibilities towards achieving a more equitable Maltese educational system.

It is relevant to note that the National Minimum Curriculum (1999) prefers to adopt the term 'equality' rather than 'equity'. Principle 11 (p. 39) speaks of gender equality while objective 5 (p. 54) shows in more concrete terms how this can be achieved by the system. But then the issue of equity can be arrived at subliminally by interpretation. In fact, the spirit of other curricular principles such as: quality education for all, holistic education, an inclusive education and a more formative assessment, points to the basic common principle of equity.

There is an inherent equity dimension in the whole thrust and orientation of these curricular principles. This is summarised in the principle of respect for diversity, which practically expresses the desire of an anti-bias curriculum that promotes a learning experience which is open to diverse ethnic, religious, political and sexual orientations. It is interesting to remark here that the need to replace the term 'equality' with 'equity' has been, allegedly, highlighted by members in the National Curriculum Focus Group on Gender Equality in Education.

There are also indications that the way these principles are being translated in daily school practices through the development of syllabuses, learning resources, pedagogical approaches, and the use of a range of assessment modes by schools, reflects a concerted attempt to respect learners' entitlement to a fair distribution of curricular provisions.

Research

The subject of equity in education has been repeatedly raised and professionally researched by the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta. Suffice it to mention, among others, research work on gender equity in subject options by male and female students in secondary schools, publications on democracy in education, research papers on justice in educational provisions at both the school and community level, programmes on transformative education with special reference to adult education and life-long learning along Freirean lines, surveys on bullying in schools in Malta, and the ongoing research in ways of giving a concrete shape and form to an inclusive school culture.

These initiatives by different members of the Faculty of Education, complemented by literacy programmes by the Literacy Unit of the University, the complementary teachers section of the Education Division, and NGOs like the Paolo Freire Institute within the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, are all worthwhile supportive measures to create the social climate where equity in our educational system can thrive.

It is comforting to observe, therefore, that the issue of equity has not been neglected, even if it has been treated, perhaps, in a not very pronounced manner. There are, however, a few recommendations which emerge from the ground covered so far. Based on facts and needs rather than ideology, conclusions and recommendations are only meant to provoke thinking, induce constructive discussion, and lead to action in the interest of a fairer educational entitlement of pupils and students in Malta. In this way, our collective efforts are more likely to be productive.

Conclusions and recommendations

What may be considered as favourable conditions for a fair and just school experience are generally believed to include, inter alia:

(a) an objective and scientific detection of learners' abilities, skills and talents;

(b) a varied option of learning approaches and strategies adapted to varied abilities; a made-to-measure curriculum to meet individual needs and stretch abilities when required. This is still possible even within the constraints of nationally-set examination papers as long as these are considerably monitored by central agencies;

(c) mastery learning, formative assessment, and mechanisms which support equality of achievement for essential academic and social skills;

(d) a common core curriculum for all learners at primary and secondary schools, which set the threshold beneath which fairness dictates nobody should find themselves in;

(e) more of certain assets to the more able students, for example, an extended curriculum and more education time;

(f) more of other assets to the less able students, for instance, more learning resources, individualised programmes, multi-sensory learning approaches, specialised education, better ratio of student to teaching staff, allocating better quality resources to overcome weaknesses in economically challenged pupils, including resources of the new information technologies. This also applies to e-learning which should include the provision of assistive technologies to learners with special needs;

(g) a school experience which encourages fair equality of social opportunities where inequalities in education are turned to the benefit of the most disadvantaged learners;

(h) equity in the education system independently of the inequalities observed in other spheres, whether these are economical, political or social;

(i) less emphasis on examinations and credentials as summative evaluative measures and greater access to educational opportunities; shifting from evaluating product as summative student performance data to evaluating process which provides a picture of a programme as a whole;

(j) encouraging effort rather than rewarding abilities; measuring what is valued and important rather than what can be easily measured. Too much emphasis on summative assessment of product focuses on the performance of particular groups at the expense of the qualitative abilities and efforts of others, thus raising equity issues;

(k) infusing curricular subject areas with the values of democratic citizenship, a sense of fairness, justice and responsibility, solidarity and political literacy, which of their nature and substance necessarily feed into the guiding principle of equity;

(m) strengthening and further developing the democratic ethos of the school with class meetings, students' councils, teacher dialogues, and well thought-out parental involvement programmes. This can alter the social dynamic of the school by providing opportunities for collective problem solving and conflict resolution in an atmosphere of perceived and real fairness;

(n) making clear provisions for the principle of educational equity, with directions of how this can be enacted, in the much awaited updated version of the 1988 Education Act. This should incorporate the general principles of the policy documents, public statements and explanations on: inclusive education, literacy, child protection, substance abuse, good behaviour and discipline, bullying, health and safety, and school democracy.

A generalising note

"Equity forms an essential element of the political judgment of users of school". In other words, parents, teachers, learners and policy makers are becoming more aware of equity issues in the school experience. A fair educational system is not only a system that distributes education equitably, but a system that distributes education in such a way as to make society fairer.

The series of projects so far by the Ministry and Division of Education provides grounds to reasonably conclude that both the political and educational arm have embarked on the road of quality education "imbued with equity characteristics". The proposal for "a new network organisation for quality education in Malta" as clearly explained in the recently published policy document For All children to Succeed captures well these initiatives. This is consolidated by the six educational targets set by Government within the 12 key priorities in the Action Plan on Poverty and Social Exclusion (2004).

One only hopes that the transition from beliefs and meanings to an equity identity of our educational system continues to materialise by moving on from rhetoric to reality. The values of sustainability, creativity and equity should show the way.

For more information on equity readers are referred to an online Equity Toolbox accessed through: http://learnwebct.vetonline.vic.edu.au/dav/EQUITY DEVT/site/drugs-smk-05 smoking in movies.htm