The Government is committed to triple the time allocated for science in primary schools, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said yesterday as he cited a report ranking Malta 40th out of 50 countries in mathematics and science skills.

Carried out in 2011 across 96 schools and involving more than 3,600 Year Five pupils, the Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study revealed that Maltese schoolchildren are laggards when it comes to science skills.

This study also showed that lack of sufficient knowledge of the English language may have contributed to local students answering incorrectly or skipping questions. The achievement score of students who spoke English at home was higher than that of those who did not.

Some 30 per cent of Maltese students didnot even meet the low international benchmark

Minister Bartolo said this was worrying and schools needed to dedicate more time to both literacy and science.

This could be done through more efficient time management, he said, adding that being bilingual was a challenge in every sector.

“As much as it is important for state school students to know how to speak English, it is also important for independent school students to have a good grasp of Maltese for their intellectual development.

“From the next scholastic year, we need to find more time for literacy and science.”

Referring to the National Curriculum Framework launched in February, Mr Bartolo said the document gave mathematics and science the same importance and recommended that 15 per cent of the time in a primary classroom should be dedicated to mathematics and 15 per cent to science.

But Malta was the country that dedicated the least amount of time to sciences: while the international median was 85 hours a year, Malta dedicated just 39, he said.

Also, the way sciences were taught had to be changed, he said.

This change had already started but more needed to be done.

The minister noted that 30 per cent of Maltese students did not even meet the low international benchmark, compared to the international median of eight per cent.

On the other hand, only two per cent of Maltese students reached the advanced international benchmark against five per cent of international ones.

The study, which included Malta’s participation for the first time, was held among state, Church and independent Year 5 students.

The best performing countries were the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Finland and Japan.

In January, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, then Opposition leader, said the report had been published internationally in December but was yet to be made public in Malta.

Yesterday Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said the Government had adopted the policy of publishing every international study the country took part in as these reports did not just classify countries, but also provided recommendations.