Report shows that Malta’s students top Europe league
Malta has the highest percentage of students who speak a second language within the EU.
The Education and Training Monitor 2012, issued by the European Commission, shows that the proportion of students familiar with a “first foreign language” is highest – 82 per cent – in Malta and Sweden, where English is a second language.
The lowest rates were marked in France, where 14 per cent speak English, and England, where French is a second language for nine per cent of students. The report, which looked at the education landscape, also found that Malta suffered a considerable drop in the rate of early school leavers that stood at 24.5 per cent last year, the Education Ministry said.
The extensive report shows that Malta had a high employment rate for early school leavers and that the country’s expenditure on education stood at 5.5 per cent of the gross domestic product, compared to the EU average of 5.4 per cent.
In a statement, Labour Party education spokesman Evarist Bartolo said that despite the decrease in early school leavers, Malta still had one of the highest rates of early school leavers in the EU. He said the Government was more interested in the number of students who graduated and did not seem concerned about the high number of young people falling behind.
The Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology recently pointed out that 30 per cent of students gave up on the subject they had originally chosen within the first two years, he noted.
The Education Ministry reacted, saying that the Labour Party was continuing to refuse to recognise Malta’s success in the educational sector.
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Alex Ellul
Nov 25th 2012, 00:36
they continue working hard until the time they're 26; they would have earned bewteen them 20 years of wages, get married. buy an apartment without bank loans.
The other boy and girl continue there studies, A-levels, university and by the time they're 26 years old, if they find a job, they would have just 6 years of salaries in their pockets, compared to the 20 years earned by the other couple
Gustav Svensson
Nov 24th 2012, 21:43
The language skills in Malta are impressive. What is is more worrying is the huge number of obese Maltese and their eating habits. An obese person is less likely to find a job and will cost more for the state in form of healthcare etc.
Steve Elliott
Nov 24th 2012, 18:54
students have there priorities in the write order, maltese is no good to you if you visit any other country in the world. english is what you need, fact.
Bertrand Gove
Nov 24th 2012, 19:09
i think you need to get some lessons in English. Otherwise you're going to have an ever-decreasing list of countries you could visit. Fact.
Charles Caruana Carabez
Nov 24th 2012, 20:43
Good one, Mr Gove, dashed poor one Mr Elliot!
M Schembri
Nov 25th 2012, 00:10
On the other hand, good written English is what YOU need Mr Elliot.
Robert Agius
Nov 25th 2012, 12:17
To be fair, does anybody know what happened to the level of English, in England, since Thatcher..... Bertrand, Charles and M. S., you might be in for a surprise.
Charles Caruana Carabez
Nov 24th 2012, 18:47
Europe would be in for a minor surprise if they checked which member has the largest number of trilinguals, never mind bilinguals. Malta would probably top the list.
Francis Grech
Nov 24th 2012, 18:42
obviously the only reason that our Maltese students are tops for speaking other foreign language because our semitic language is not understood by any other country at all except Gozo ,of course
Bertrand Gove
Nov 24th 2012, 19:11
Maltese is a Siculo-semitic language. Most Italians gather enough from our language to understand what we're talking about. Forget semitic.
Christian Sciberras
Nov 24th 2012, 22:52
Bertrand, jien ma naqbilx mieghek. Ghandi kurzita kemm hawn taljani li fehmuni.
Francis Grech
Nov 26th 2012, 00:29
Bernard Gove vera li hafna taljani jifmu parti mil-lingwa Maltija imma mete jisimghu lill xi Malti jidghaj u isemmu l-isem t-Alla u il-Madonna tghot mghahhom ukoll lis-Spanjoli u il-Portogizi, Qwajjes ,
Martin Bezzina Wettinger
Nov 24th 2012, 16:49
The fact that a quarter of our students are leaving school early is indeed very worrying. Most of these will hardly be able to earn a minimum wage through out their life meaning that they would not be able to support a family with their income. It is even more worrying that the Education division claims this as a success.
Malta must help these students obtain a better education.
Michael Campbell
Nov 24th 2012, 16:13
success in the education sector is not measured by how many morons become lawyers or how many nitwits become politicians. neither is it measured by how many young people are occupied by a useless dead end education at MCAST. Success in education is measured by how many balanced, healthy, socially responsible and experienced young people society produces.
Face the truth. Face the facts.
Joseph Fenech
Nov 24th 2012, 18:34
Your comment really reflects what you are trying to get across !!!!!!!!!!
Audrey Ledgard
Nov 24th 2012, 16:03
Sorry to say but If we continue to go at this range english will be our first language and we will forget maltese soon our youngsters between them talk english not maltese.can some one tell me what will happen to the maltese laguage?
Bertrand Gove
Nov 24th 2012, 19:13
it'll become il-lingwa tal-kcina. How fussy! Youngsters speak in bad English as well as bad Maltese. Shall we do something about it?
Joe Tanti
Nov 24th 2012, 15:28
82% is worrying. That means 18% can not speak, what is by constitution, an official language of Malta.
Peter Xuereb
Nov 24th 2012, 16:03
Hear, hear.
Marc Alan Spiteri
Nov 24th 2012, 14:32
Apart from this whole joke about English being a 'second' language and boasting about its statistics, Maltese students are really getting high ranks - in MARKS, not in EDUCATION. It is obvious that the marks will shoot up if the bar of standard is always being lowered!
Speaking as a 6th Former who's having a hard time learning a lot in two years when in the past part of my syllabi were O-level
Albert Farrugia
Nov 24th 2012, 12:35
No wonder they say there are "lies, damn lies, and statistics"! This is totally meaningless! English is not simply a "second language" in Malta, much less a "foreign language". English is the language of instruction, the language the vast majority of the Maltese use as a written medium, it is the language of administration, of business, cinema, theatre, etc.. So the figure should be 100% not 82%!
Victor Rodenas
Nov 24th 2012, 11:34
It has been always so.
pat muscat
Nov 24th 2012, 13:22
No, it is only now that the Maltese are speaking a second language thanks to the present administration.!
Mr.W Cassar
Nov 24th 2012, 15:13
Rubbish Pat!
We were studying second languages even in the 80's I was one of them!
Louis Saliba
Nov 24th 2012, 19:44
@ Pat Muscat
You are either politically blinkered or have been brainwashed. Most Maltese have been speaking Maltese and English ever since compulsory education came into force. And during the 1940s, I for one was studying four languages at school - Maltese, English, Italian and Latin.
B Attard
Nov 24th 2012, 20:59
Was this sarcastic Pat?
Ms Maria Vella
Nov 24th 2012, 10:49
As usual PL all doom and gloom
Michael Flaherty
Nov 24th 2012, 10:10
Some might argue that the courses are too difficult - as a student myself, when Erasmus students (who'd be in their 4th yr doing 2nd year credits) complain about it, I find it baffling. Sure, it's not easy, but it's manageable. As a result, those that DO graduate are at the top of their game across Europe. We cannot lower standards to raise numbers; other solutions must be found.
Please choose the reason of your report below: