Jan Vleggaar, Mosta
Killing budding creativity
I miss a critical issue in the write-up on the seminar on entrepreneurship and education (May 20). An important factor for low creativity in later life is the lack of free, unstructured play when young. "Play is essential to development since it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social and emotional well-being of children" (K.R. Ginsberg, Pediatrics Vol 117, 2007).
In Malta, the lack of playing is aggravated by the homework burden imposed by the educational system on very young children (and their parents). Another effect of this action might be an antipathy towards learning, which leads to a large group of early school leavers.
It appears to me that first killing budding creativity in children and then encouraging them to think creatively is not the right way to go about it.
A simple measure to start with would be to abolish all homework for children until the age of 10.
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Mark-Anthony Fenech
May 23rd 2009, 10:48
I remember when I was 3 in London... We had gone to live for a year over there since my father was studying there. The nursery school included children from all around the world and the approach was learning through play. Then when we came to Malta I was straddled in a nun's kindergarten where we started learning Maltese and English grammar, Maths, Religion etc.. PE was a joke, at one point all we did was watch videos of men shearing sheep in Australia! Talk about culture shock! Whenever I used to come up with a story of my own invention the nun would come along and dismiss them as 'lies'... This was way back in 1993. It seems that things are still the same...