Through its corporate social responsibility programme, Bank of Valletta is sponsoring part of the National Literacy Campaign which complements the National Literacy Strategy launched by the Education Ministry.

The National Literacy Strategy for All was launched by the Government last May for public consultation, in tandem with a National Literacy Campaign to target different sectors of society.

This strategy has both lifelong and “life-wide” dimensions and puts emphasis on “intergenerational” aspects of education, as promoted by UNESCO, which recognise the importance of the role of families and the wider community in raising levels of literacy.

Malta’s 2010 results in the Programme for International Assessment showed that over 36 per cent of Maltese 15-year-olds were low achievers in reading literacy compared with the European Union average of almost 20 per cent. In addition, in the 2011 Progress in International Reading Study, the mean reading score of Maltese 10-year-olds was significantly lower than the international average.

The initial main focus of the BOV-Ministry collaboration will be on a reading promotion campaign with designated activities involving the use of multi-media, which will seek to spread a culture of reading and increase levels of literacy among children as well as the wider community.

Further collaboration is envisaged throughout the coming years between the BOV and the Ministry for Education and Employment on a number of educational initiatives and projects from which Maltese society will benefit.