Gozitan students top Junior Lyceum exam results

Gozo may be plagued by high unemployment but there is a glimmer of hope for its student population that once again achieved the best results in the Junior Lyceum exams this year.

A district analysis of Junior Lyceum exam results for state-school students undertaken by The Times showed that more than 74 per cent of Gozitan Year 6 pupils passed their exams.

Gozo also registered the highest rate of applicants for the exams, which, however, could be explained by the fact that the vast majority of Gozitan students attend state schools rather than Church or private schools.

If educational achievement is also a sign of social disparity, differences do emerge between localities in the more affluent north-western region of Malta and those in the more depressed south-eastern regions.

The north-western districts had a pass rate of over 66 per cent. In these areas, 88 per cent of state school students sat for their Junior Lyceum exams. This can be partly explained by the higher tendency for parents in these localities to send their children to Church or private schools, thus not needing to sit for the Junior Lyceum exams.

Within the north-western region, results varied widely between different districts.

The highest pass rate was in the western district with just over 74 per cent of students passing their exams. It also had the highest rate of applicants with 92 per cent of students sitting for the exams.

In complete contrast, the northern harbour district registered a pass rate of 58 per cent. In this district only 86 per cent of eligible state-school students actually applied to do the exams.

The percentage of students taking the exam in the northern district was slightly higher at 88 per cent. The pass rate was almost 72 per cent.

On the other hand, 90 per cent of students from the south-eastern regions stood for the exams and achieved a pass rate of almost 61 per cent. Even here there is a visible disparity between the south eastern district and the southern harbour district.

While the pass rate for students in the southeast was 69 per cent, it dropped to just over 54 per cent in the southern harbour area, which could be an indication of the higher concentration of social problems in the area.

The overall pass rate was 67.1 per cent, more than six percentage points above last year's. It is the highest pass rate in eight years.

Female students had a slightly better performance than their male counterparts. Almost 69 per cent of girls passed their exams as opposed to almost 66 per cent of boys.

The Director General for Quality in Education, Grace Grima was happy with the results, which she hoped would be improved when students did their resits on July 31.

About 400 students, who failed in one subject only, had the opportunity to resit the subject and applications are open until Wednesday.

"This was not a possibility in the previous years. This measure is bound to increase this year's overall pass rate even further," Dr Grima said.

She insisted that the improvement in the overall pass rate was not a result of the exam papers being easier. "The overall difficulty level has remained constant, particularly over the last five years," she said.

Junior Lyceum exams

Region: North-west;
Applicants:88 per cent;
Pass rate: 66.3 per cent

Region: South-east;
Applicants: 90 per cent;
Pass rate: 60.7 per cent

Region: Gozo;
Applicants: 93 per cent;
Pass rate: 74.2 per cent

• Applicants: the number of students who took the exams as a percentage of the eligible student population

• Pass rate: the number of students who passed their exams as a percentage of those who took the exams

• All numbers refer to students from State schools

The districts

Northern: Għargħur, Mellieħa, Mġarr, Mosta, Naxxar, St Paul's Bay.

Northern harbour: Qormi, Birkirkara, Gżira, Ħamrun, Msida, Pembroke, Pieta, St Julians, San Ġwann, Sta Venera, Sliema.

Western: Baħrija, Żebbuġ, Siġġiewi, Attard, Lija/Balzan, Dingli, Rabat, Mtarfa.

Southeastern: Żejtun, Birżebbuġa, Għaxaq, Gudja, Kirkop, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk, Mqabba, Qrendi, Safi, Żurrieq.

Southern harbour: Valletta, Vittoriosa, Xgħajra, Żabbar, Senglea, Cospicua, Fgura, Floriana, Kalkara, Luqa, Marsa, Paola, Tarxien.

Gozo: Għajnsielem, Għarb, Kerċem, Nadur, Qala, San Lawrenz, Sannat, Victoria, Xagħra, Xewkija, Żebbuġ.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com