Educational planning

Dr Arthur Felice (The Sunday Times, March 18) raises the issue of what is basically state planning and manipulation of the education system. Proponents of this kind of interference usually justify their views by claiming that the educational system should produce graduates who are most in demand by the economy.

These propositions are usually made by individuals or professional bodies who are primarily interested in protecting and enhancing the economic milieu in which they practice.

These demands occur everywhere in the world, not just Malta. The most that the state should do is encourage students in the early stages of their studies (Forms 3, 4 and 5) to orientate themselves towards particular fields. Anything more will simply result in much frustration and waste of resources because students will simply repeat their A-levels till they get the necessary grades.

Proponents of educational planning usually cite the fact that many graduates emigrate after they have been educated at a cost to the nation.

Malta's main resource is its people and no matter how much money is spent in education, it is always a good investment even if the graduate emigrates or is underemployed. Although Malta produces many graduates it does not have enough post-graduates, people with higher levels of education who are capable of carrying out research, produce inventions and become true experts in their field.

If we are going to create an environment in which people, once they graduate, can start working in a lucrative and uncompetitive environment, their incentive to strive further and improve their skills will disappear.

We will end up in a society of mediocre citizens with a mediocre uncompetitive economy.

A case in point is the emigration of many doctors. Many of them are taking up a great challenge and becoming true experts, at their own cost in their specialty. Quite a few of them return to Malta to practise, often replacing foreign specialists.

When a graduate emigrates it is not really a loss to the nation because these graduates will either return with some level of expertise or if they settle abroad they tend to invest a lot of their capital back in Malta, besides visiting regularly.

They are an 'export' that gives returns. Planned and regulated economies are usually unsuccessful and education is one of the hardest areas to plan successfully.