Tribute to teachers on World Teachers’ Day

On the occasion of World Teachers’ Day today, Education Minister Dolores Cristina paid tribute to all teachers in Malta for their work towards the formation of a new generation and better future for the country.

Mrs Cristina said the day had a bigger significance and was more important this year because never before had such a high percentage of the country’s wealth been invested in quality education.

There were people who thought that teachers would become less important with modern technology. But the basis of education in the 21^st century was not going to be information but formation.

The emphasis would not remain on the content of lessons, because this was continuously updated and was at the direct disposal of those who needed it. This would instead be on the teaching of values, of how information could be used for one’s personal maturity and for the common good.

This type of profoundly human teaching had to be carried out from one person to another, hence the importance of professional, up to date, mature and dedicated teachers who taught not the subjects but the children with whom they were trusted.

For teachers to implement this mission, they needed a well equipped structure to bring about and strengthen change.

This, Mrs Cristina said, was to be an important year for obligatory education in Malta because, through measures which had been taken, one could see to how start fully implementing all possibilities of development and vision offered by the 2006 amendments of the Education Act.

The next step towards the education reform was the revision of child assessment and placement in classrooms. In this, the minister pointed out that she was specifically referring to the Junior Lyceum examinations and streaming.

She said that extensive research and experience showed that such nationalisation systems did more harm than good and Malta was one of the last countries which still used them.

A way had to be found of how assessment systems and class organisation could become fairer, more valid, practical and human so that everyone would advance as much as they could and no one would fall behind.

Mrs Cristina also pointed out that the university was continuing to grow to accept more students and new opportunities while MCAST was each year breaking new records.

Major investment was being undertaken at both places so that at least 85 per cent of young people would continue with their education after secondary school and for research and innovation to grow.