Quality education for all

Our nation's mission statement for education is captured in government's foresight "for all children to succeed".

My government has placed education as one of the three main pillars of our political agenda. We worked towards a sustainable economy and last week the European Union defined our efforts as "credible and sustainable". We have sought to address the environment seriously and consistently and the results are very encouraging.

In education, we pledged to provide quality education at all levels. In so doing, we invested heavily in building new schools. The New St Benedicts Secondary School in Kirkop is a living testimony of this commitment. Similarly, other schools are in an advanced stage of construction such as the secondary schools in Qormi and Cottonera. The plans for three new schools - Pembroke Primary, Gozo and Mosta secondary schools - are also ready.

An intensive refurbishing programme has seen substantial improvements in practically all state schools in Malta and Gozo. We are also investing in new equipment on learning tools and in teacher training. In this budget the government has allocated Lm1.5 million for the upgrading of all science laboratories in state schools.

Coupled with these initiatives one must not overlook the new buildings constructed on the main MCAST campus in Paola and our commitment to invest Lm50 million to assemble all institutes of our vocational college in one campus and increase the student population from the current 5,000 to 10,000 by 2015.

Our University is working hard to achieve new academic heights and greater visibility in the international community. Its degree structure and research are continuously yielding successful dividends. The private sector in education is experiencing a new renaissance.

We are seriously committed to ensure that "all" children succeed. This implies a reform of the whole system of lifelong learning including the issue of governance of the education system and the autonomy and decentralisation of state schools.

Our key challenge has been to invest heavily and continuously in human capital.

A quick look at the education budgets of these last three years indicates, a staggering increase in the allocation for education. This made it possible to introduce the college system for primary and secondary education, making the transition smoother, seamless and conducive to social cohesion from the early stages of a child's development.

Parallel to these institutional developments, we will shortly be witnessing a reform in the Education Division with the creation of two new directorates, one regulating general policies, setting standards and monitoring the whole state and non-state education system and the other directorate acting as operator and service provider to render administration cost-effective, effective and efficient.

The silent revolution in our education system has created an environment in which all learners are benefiting from increased self-confidence, increased encouragement and opportunities, particularly those on offer by the European Union programmes on education. There is no doubt at all on how much education has gained from accession to the EU. Since January 2000, Malta has attracted more than €10 million to finance its participation in the EU educational programmes. The benefits are enormous and cannot be really measured. In these last seven years, almost 6,000 teachers and over 2,300 students have participated in programmes falling under EU educational programmes.

Reforming the education system also meant creating new structures. The setting up of the National Commission for Higher Education will ascertain the financial needs and the effective governance of further and higher education.

The Malta Qualifications Council has finalised, after a nation-wide consultation process, a National Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning, which will facilitate progression, access and transferability of qualifications and will open the process for the accreditation and recognition of prior learning. The Council for the Teaching Profession will regulate the practice of the teaching profession by keeping under review and assess education and training standards.

The new directorates within the Education Division will synergise quality with efficiency.

Malta's future depends on the quality of our education system. What has been achieved so far is an indication of what will be accomplished in the years to come. Our targets are clear. At the centre of these goals are "all" learners, young and old, high achievers and underachievers. We are strongly committed to assist learners to realise their full potential. Their full potential will be our country's greatest asset.

Education will be the main topic at today's discussion meeting with the participation of the Prime Minister at his office in Castille, Valletta, at 6 p.m.

Dr Galea is Minister of Education, Youth and Employment.