Prize Day season

It is the season for Prize Days. Six weeks ago I walked straight into it. The invitations poured in fast and furious from state, Church and independent schools. Two per morning and two per evening.

There are an approximate 160 primary and secondary schools in Malta and Gozo. This year saw a short second term and an election in March. This means that Prize Days have, in the main, been concentrated in a short 16-week period.

Prize Days are a brilliant "getting-to-know-you" way of learning about the ethos of a school.

I belong to the seeing is understanding species. Those two to three hours of sitting in a school hall, watching students perform their song and dance, listening to the head's "what we have done, what we would love to do" speech is an extremely edifying experience. More important than that are probably the whispered but loaded asides made during the performance, asides that diplomatically but clearly underscore the head's priorities, the strengths of the school, the needs of the school, the problems of some of the students and the requirements of members of the staff.

I have tremendously enjoyed sitting through slick, almost professional, school productions that tell tales of painstaking sheer hard work. Perfect and clear diction, gorgeous costumes, hairstyles and makeup that are evidence of varied talents and a commitment that goes beyond the call of duty that clearly show a staff and parental involvement that is so essential to our schools.

There are schools that place an enormous value on volunteer work. In one particular instance, blushing mums and grandmas walked onstage to collect an award for their input.

The diversity that has become so much part of our country is nowhere more visible than in a school choir or a roll-call for prize giving. Inclusivity has slowly but surely moved in.

In my days Prize Days were mainly for academic or sports prowess. Educational values have, fortunately, changed and the line-up for precious awards includes a wide spectrum of competences and skills. School children who would never have been acknowledged in years gone by, today share the occasion with their schoolmates as proud family members clap in the audience.

Prize Days are essentially success stories. The flip side to the coin is a dark one.

We are also at the beginning of exam season, a time of the year dreaded by many. Tensions rise and nerves are on edge. Our exam-oriented culture makes life unnecessarily difficult for so many, especially for the young students who sit for their 11+ exams. The time to review has certainly arrived, not only to decrease the burden but also to introduce a smooth transition for all. Our current system of classifying children at such an early age, with results dependent solely on exam performance, is exclusive to an extreme. The Junior Lyceum and common entrance exams convey the message that life is all about getting high marks.

Preparations for these exams result in an enormous amount of pressure that leaves little or no time for the young students to actually understand and learn what life is really all about. Children who are relegated to low-ability streams are bound to suffer from a loss of self-esteem and self-confidence that will surely mark them for life. That is the personal angle.

Then there is the national issue. As a country we need to motivate our young to continue with post-compulsory education and we can only achieve this by shedding that which segregates and introducing that which is inclusive to the highest degree possible.

Motivation is the name of the game everywhere. The most depressing sight I have seen in the past few weeks was that of a teenage boy sitting at the back of the classroom, clutching his school bag to his chest. When I asked him why he was doing that he replied that he wanted to be ready to rush out of the classroom when the bell rang. His classmates were all clustered around the teacher, avidly following what looked like a highly-interesting lesson. That boy is symbolic of a number of students that our education system needs to address through innovative ways.

Lack of motivation is so very often the source of unhappy, insecure and unruly youngsters.

When you ask students what they like and what they do not like about their schooling, the list of the "Don't Likes" is usually much longer than its counterpart. At one particular school I went to, some students had written out a wish list. Amazingly simple requests in the majority but so amazingly difficult to implement in some cases without the goodwill of all involved, including the parents. That wish list, written in the most simple of ways, could be considered a roadmap for the policy makers.

"Education is not just about children, it is about the child. Each child has only one childhood. Schools are about building a basis for life-long learning not just for academic achievement," reads a 2007 Unesco report.

That is really what education is all about.

Mrs Cristina is Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.