In the same way that the Ministry for Education has carefully studied and is proposing changes to the system involving the transition from primary to secondary education, the same attention needs to be given to the transition from secondary to tertiary education.
The changes needed here are possibly more drastic and urgent, but they could lead to more students being encouraged to carry on tertiary education.
It is becoming increasingly clear that students are not getting the full benefit of the two years spent at the Junior College or Sixth Forms. Students not being sufficiently well-prepared for several University professional undergraduate courses, especially those requiring a science background.
For example, the type and standard of chemistry background needed to follow Bachelor of Science, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, and radiography courses differ substantially. Yet the curriculum and Matsec A-level examination test is the same whichever course a student plans to join.
This is not the fault of lecturers or the administration of these education instutitions. Education evolves, and our system should change too if it is to meet today's requirements.
The reintroduction of the short three-year Bachelor degree courses as part of undergraduate studies is reviving interest in a number of proposals to reform the two-year Sixth Form system and in scrutinising the content of the two-year Sixth Form syllabus.
Some say the best solution is to amalgamate the Sixth Form or Junior College years with the university courses, as in the US. The disadvantage of this proposal is that 16-year-olds would have to decide on their career at a very early age.
However, due to the different special entry requirements for the various University courses, the options open to students are already severely restricted even with the present-day system because they need to choose which subjects to study before joining the Sixth Form.
Another possible solution could be to combine the best features of both ways. The common core subjects of English, Maltese, mathematics, communications and statistics, in addition to the present Systems of Knowledge, could be taught to all students at the Junior College or Sixth Forms and examined at Intermediate level.
At the same time, specialised courses based on syllabi suitable to the needs of particular courses could be run to prepare students for the requirements of the profession or subject concerned. These preparatory courses would be run concurrently with the Intermediate level core subjects.
Yet another solution could be to curtail the two years at the Junior College and Sixth Forms to one year and offering the second year as part of a preparatory year for University.
A solution must be found to the dilemma, and the education authorities need to carefully consider how to implement the change.