'School has lost its cool'

School has definitely lost its cool, at least that is what "investigative" students Kristie Tonna and Erin Stewart conclude in the fifth issue of Phase, which is out with The Times tomorrow.

The publishers said that over the past two months of exams, Phase received complaints from students, mostly sixth formers, who felt that slaving over piles of books in the past two years was more an exercise of learning by heart and regurgitating everything back to the examiners rather than being truly an enjoyable learning experience that should prepare them for the real world.

This led the magazine to wonder whether it was worth for students to give up on their passion of drama, art, music, dance and sport. So it decided to look deeper into the topic of education and let lose Ms Tonna and Mr Stewart.

The two investigative contributors to Phase - and students themselves - went from one sixth-form to another to interview heads of schools and institutes to get their views and solutions to the so "boring education system", as many students claim it to be.

The investigation conducted for Phase's cover story lists the possibilities that are available to open up the educational system, one that can be based more on quality than quantity.

Phase met with locally-grown scientists at the Physics Department at the University of Malta and their energetic dean, Charles V. Sammut.

In the sports section, the BMX enthusiast Julian Bugeja shares his passion for the sport.

Tattoos, anorexia nervosa and condom use in Malta are given a different flavour by, Phase, which launches a section called research leader, for which the editors invited under-graduates and graduates to publish their research papers and dissertations on various subjects.

The magazine will also be giving tips on the hottest spots for hanging out in Malta according to young people.

As usual Phase dedicates a fair amount of pages to creative and talented youngsters.

More pages dedicated to music bring interviews with rising stars like Brooke, updates on the Malta Music Festival and news from the rebellious Maltese rap No Bling Show.

This issue of Phase celebrates the birth of two babies: co-editor Velislava Hillman's newborn son and the magazine's website http://www.phase.com.mt .

editor@phase.com.mt