Assuring quality in schools

Under ongoing reforms in the education system, government schools are to be given more autonomy. At the same time, however, they will be monitored more closely to make sure they conform to certain standards. Mark Wood asked the Education Ministry's policy coordinator, Micheline Sciberras, about the issue and about the role parents have in this area.

How does the government plan to strengthen the monitoring of standards in all schools?

When one takes a close look at the achievement of the Maltese educational system over the past few decades, it becomes evident that all those in government have been deeply committed to raising standards. There has been a general increase in society's interest and demands with the educational sphere. As we look ahead, at the challenges present both locally and globally, it becomes apparent that any educational system has to adapt and evolve so as to offer each and every child the possibility of success.

It is with this in mind that the recently published document For All Children To Succeed proposes concrete measures to increase the level of quality within educational provision. Apart from the restructuring of schools into colleges that will be more autonomous with a stipulated framework of accountability, the current Education Division will evolve into two separate entities - a body that will be responsible for regulation, standard setting and quality assurance, and another entity that will focus on services rendered and essential to schools.

The government's plan is to have these separate, yet complementary directorates that will have a clear mandate and targets and thus remove any possible role conflicts. The directorate focusing on standard setting and quality assurance will be solely working within this sphere, analysing, researching, reflecting upon issues centrally related to education and emerging with benchmarks and measures that will be used aid in the design of educational programmes for students.

Also, the introduction of a Precincts Officer responsible for school maintenance will release the head of school and his/her assistants to be able to fulfill their role further as educational leaders. There will be more time and space to become more aware of what is going on in the classroom and to become more aware of what teachers need in order to better implement the curriculum.

Which are the main aspects of schooling that will be monitored?

All aspects of schooling will be monitored. However, it is expected that curriculum implementation, syllabus design and teaching methodology are given prime focus. The Ministry of Education has as its central objective the challenge of further improving the teaching and learning processes that are occurring within each and every classroom. This is obviously linked to the issue of literacy and numeracy.

Should parents expect a general rise in standards as a result?

Parents should always expect and demand a rise in standards. Just as schools should always expect and demand a rise in the quality of parental involvement. Education begins primarily in the home and parents are major stakeholders and contributors to the educational experience of the child. Educating a child is not solely the business of the school. Each and every citizen is responsible for the educational experience of each and every child born in our society. It is crucial that we all strive for higher standards.

Concretely, we expect to see schools networking more together, sharing resources and experience that will manifest itself in better educational provision. With clear standard setting, well designed strategy and policy to reach set targets, we aim to improve attainment at all levels but more importantly the aim is to provide an educational experience that gives the opportunity for each child to develop the skills to the maximum possible.

What will happen if a school does not come up to certain standards?

Each school has its own character, its own ethos. Standards need to take this into consideration. In cases where difficulties are being experienced at class level, our trained educators will give their full support. This will consist possibly of new ideas, approaches, teaching methodologies and resources. Sharing difficulties with other teachers can result in learning how colleagues have handled similar situations successfully and thus create possible alternative intervention. Most difficulties can be successfully overcome. One has to analyse a situation and understand it at the grass roots. If standards are not met through sheer carelessness and lack of interest, then obviously concrete action needs to be taken.

How can parents find out about the minimum standards that they should expect from the school attended by their children?

The National Curriculum is a resource that parents can use in order to learn more about what is expected of schools. As stakeholders in this experience, parents need to involve themselves further in the particular school their child attends, to learn more about the processes, plans and projects being implemented there. Discussions with school staff is crucial in order to learn about the targets their child should be aiming for and what strategies are in place to help the child reach such targets.

Can parents make a report if they feel there is a serious shortcoming in a school?

The document For All Children To Succeed clearly states the need of developing further a customer care service for parents, teachers and students. Very often individual issues are solved at school level. This needs to be encouraged. It is through dialogue that we learn to work more effectively together. It needs to be made clear that any negative behaviour, for example, violence, will not be tolerated from any stakeholder and no argument or difficulty can be effectively resolved in this manner.

For those few cases that remain unresolved, the Ministry of Education and the Education Division intend strengthening their customer care service where all stakeholders will have the right of complaint and a speedy investigation of the issue, as well as feedback on the issue.