It was a great relief to hear that an agreement on the lecturers' wages has been reached between the University and two lecturers' unions. It is indeed unfortunate that the matter had been dragging on since last June, placing students under unnecessary tension and duress.
But now that common sense has once again prevailed, together, in the national interest, we must all work hand in hand to heed the Prime Minister's appeal and become a centre of excellence in education by the year 2015.
The Nationalist Party has always kept education high in its list of priorities. Over the last decades the Nationalist government investted millions of euros to upgrade schools and colleges with state-of-the-art equipment and, this year alone, investment in education will reach €362 million. This Administration has committed itself to continue to maintain and build new schools and colleges and to fine-tune our education system. A master plan on raising the quality of education, which covers the period up to the year 2023, has also been drawn up.
One of the great advantages of the ongoing reform in education is the removal of the common entrance exam, better known as the Junior Lyceum exam.
This long-awaited change was welcomed by all: the pupils, the parents and the teachers.
From now on the transition from primary to secondary schooling will be less stressful for students. The decision whether they will be promoted to the next level or not will be based on their sixth year final exam and on an assessment made at the end of the scholastic year.
Without doubt, the elimination of the tension and trauma primary students used to experience prior to this move will transform students' learning experience to a much smoother and positive one. Based on the principle that every student has capabilities, the proposed removal of the streaming system will ensure that students receive the "personalised" attention they need and deserve. Under the new system, the students will be chosen according to their talents and aptitude in a given subject and not in a haphazard way as was the custom under the old system.
The challenge that our education system might be facing in the not-too-distant future is that the facilities and services on offer will not be adequate for the ever-increasing volume of the post-secondary population. In order to meet the demand, further investments in Mcast and the University are on the books. An extension of Mcast is in the pipeline as is the intention to build at least one new school every year.
It was indeed great to learn that over 800 students applied to follow the IT course at Mcast and the proposed college extension will ensure that a bigger number of students who wish to take up the opportunity to further their studies will have the appropriate facilities to do so.
In this respect, the Nationalist government has set itself an ambitious target. It intends to increase the post-secondary population by 85 per cent by the year 2015. The government is also considering increasing the number of scholarships to post-secondary students to obtain a Masters or a PhD.
The world is changing at a very face pace and our human resources, the best and only asset Malta can boast of, must per force adapt to the times. To quote from The Times leader of December 11: "Education Minister Dolores Cristina is right in emphasising the importance for more links between business and education.
"There are, of course, some very notable areas of cooperation between the business world and the higher educational institutions, like the University and Mcast, but there is scope for more joint initiatives between academia and the world of business."
The minister's comments are very relevant to the present scenario and it is hoped that, as soon as possible, in order to enhance the economy even further, newer and wider opportunities be created to meet the aspirations of our upcoming student generation and give Malta a much needed competitive edge.
Dr Castaldi Paris is the mayor of Lija.