The Matsec system will be reformed to ensure the exams are more relevant to today’s needs and motivate students to show their skills, Education Minister Dolores Cristina said.

The first step will be appointing a team to review the system and come up with proposals for discussion, a ministry spokesman elaborated.

Meanwhile, next week, the long awaited review of the national minimum curriculum will take another step forward with the launch of a report for consultation, Ms Cristina told a group of students during a debate in Parliament organised to mark Europe Day.

Matsec stands for Matriculation and Secondary Education Certificate. The reform will address the Matriculation certificate (an admission requirement of the University of Malta equivalent to the British A levels) and the Sec exam system (equal to O levels required to get into sixth form).

The overhaul of the Matsec system too has been long in the pipeline. Ms Cristina had said she was planning it two years ago.

Some time earlier, University Rector Juanito Camilleri had said the time had come for a critical revision of the matriculation syllabus because it was demanding too much from students.

In 2004, then Education Minister Louis Galea had commissioned a team to review the objectives, operations, impact and quality of the Matsec examination system. A report was published in October 2005 listing recommendations on how the system could be strengthened. However, no reform took place.