Raising the age of compulsory schooling to 18 would be a positive move if the extra two years include a tailored, student-centric approach for those who do not obtain basic skills at secondary level, according to University rector Juanito Camilleri.

On Thursday, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said that Malta should start a discussion on whether the compulsory school-leaving age should be raised from 16 to 18.

Mcast principal and CEO Stephen Cachia said such a change clearly needed a lot of discussion among all stakeholders and was not something that could be introduced overnight.

The first key issue, Mr Cachia said, included examining the compulsory education sector and working to make it more relevant, interesting and stimulating to all learners. The second was linked to the further and higher education sector where students needed to be offered an educational experience that was more relevant, motivating and stimulating, while giving value to different learning styles.

Economist Malcolm Bray said the proposal was positive as, according to standard economic theory, education contributed positively to a country’s economic growth as it improved the quality of labour supply.

Economist Gordon Cordina argued that the issue was essentially a question of how to best deal with the early school-leaving problem.

More detailed comments on Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com