Editorial

Education is about to become more child-friendly. Ironic as this statement may be, the evidence presented at the recent launch of a major reform of streaming and 11+ exams paints a picture of young children in travail.

Starting from Year 4, pupils in government primary schools strain to pass exams that would qualify them for a higher stream the following year. In Year 6 they are joined by many others, mainly from Church schools, sitting for the junior lyceum or common entrance exams, or both. On the result of that one great test will depend the type of education they get for the rest of their school lives. Failure will pretty much dash any academic aspirations their parents might have had for them.

This system, it is held, is leading to all sorts of undesirable effects. Pupils are being coached in the core subjects with teachers unable to provide the holistic education envisioned in the curriculum. The load of homework and private lessons is such that they hardly have time for play, exercise or family. Children show symptoms of stress and fatigue. And those who don't make the grade go on to suffer from feelings of inferiority and alienation.

On top of that are the poor educational outcomes. Malta's aim of having 85 per cent of school leavers carry on studying is being hampered by the fact that, according to international research, the earlier students are streamed the more their socio-economic background comes into play in determining success and, therefore, the greater the risk of failure for most. In fact, a third of students leave school with no certification.

Malta is the only country in the EU to have a selective exam at 11.

The proposed reform will try to tackle the major concerns emanating from the system in place. Steaming at both state primary and secondary levels is to be gradually discontinued and the selective 11+ exam replaced by national benchmarking exams held purely to assess academic levels. Students will then be "set" in groups by subject, depending on their level, rather than streamed by overall result.

The reform has long been on the cards, with political consensus as to the general direction achieved a decade ago. After a well-researched review of the present situation, consultation has been opened to the public. One suspects the exercise will be used as much to sell the reform as to obtain feedback. The authorities will be trying hard to get everyone aboard for such far-reaching change.

Many questions will be raised and outright resistance voiced, all of which must be properly addressed. Parents of both bright and backward students will worry that their children won't get enough attention. Teachers will be anxious about additional workload and some, perhaps secretly, about losing income from private lessons. Educationalists may question whether the country is going to lose educational centres of excellence, currently turning out our leaders and professionals, to the comprehensive system.

It is vital to have teachers aligned not just on paper but in spirit. The reform won't work without them. They must be given enough support and training to master the significant shift to mixed-ability teaching.

It is also important that the reform is not just ideologically driven but empirically guided, with ongoing monitoring, as indeed is being recommended. It would be tragic for any half-heartedness or shoddiness to slip in to what will entail no less than a rock-solid, long-term political commitment. But it is heartening to know that some of Malta's best educational brains are backing the reform.