Dropouts from two schools in Cottonera have been lured back by a pilot project that offered alternative education and helped them achieve life skills and certification.
The programme, Reach, set its sights on 50 students who had either dropped out or were often absent. Thirty-two of them went on to achieve a school-leaving certificate.
Overall, despite the difficulties and obstacles, it was described as an enriching experience for the students, who were from the girls' Erin Serracino Inglott and the boys' Lorenzo Gafà Fortini schools.
The project emerged as a result of a study that was carried out for the Employment and Training Corporation among unemployed young people. The survey showed that a significant number were school dropouts or frequent absentees, which put them at greater risk of unemployment.
This spurred five different government entities to get together to tackle this problem and with the help of €36,000 from EU structural funds the pilot project started last October.
Education Minister Louis Galea, together with Foundation for Social Welfare Services chief executive Joe Gerada, yesterday attended the launch of the assessment report on Reach.
The project offered an alternative curriculum to students facing serious difficulties in completing their education. It provided mentoring support to those with a history of truancy and encouraged them to improve their employability prospects.
The idea was to provide a school within a school, and explore different learning methodologies that better suited their individual needs. It was geared to provide them with life skills to help them identify a potential career path, and expose them to different working environments.
Teachers are also provided with training to help them prevent the young people from dropping out, while parents are roped in to help remove any obstacles their children might be facing in completing their education.
Dr Suzanne Gatt, who evaluated the project, said that international research showed that the risk factors for dropouts related to the school (size, climate, etc...), student's phobias and situation, the community and family attitudes to education and income.
However, school seemed to be a greater determinant of dropouts than any other socio-economic factor.
She pointed out that while this programme had succeeded in attracting students back to school, some of the educational staff had difficulty accepting the programme, and the role of the learning mentor gave rise to uncertainty.
Dr Gatt felt there should be greater involvement of teachers and schools to ensure success, as well as increased participation of parents.
It was important to spot students who were good in areas such as arts and drama and help them grow in that field. Children had to be monitored from a young age, something that could be achieved through the new college system.
Dr Galea said this project confirmed how in these cases there were numerous challenges, which made it vital for government institutions and non-governmental organisations to work together. Though social problems existed behind every case, the educational system had to do its utmost to achieve its goals.
Mr Gerada said these young children, in particular, needed personalised attention to prevent them from falling through the net and remaining unemployed.
He called on those who dealt with these children to steer clear of putting them into pigeon holes, because their abilities had different shades.
The five entities taking part in Reach are the ETC; Appogg, Cottonera Community Services; Sedqa, Teen Support Services; the Cottonera College; and Access, Cottonera Community Resource Centre.