The Education Ministry has just published a number of strategic studies that are aimed at addressing the daunting long-term challenges faced by the educational sector.
Well-written glitzy documents outlined the way that educational achievements should be improved in the coming decade and beyond.
Whether plans to reduce truancy, curb early school leaving and raise achievement levels will reap the desired benefits will greatly depend on the ability of policymakers to lead the programme of change that is needed in our educational system. The recent chaos that preceded the organisation of the Skolasajf does not augur well for the successful implementation of much more complex educational projects.
The parents of 10,800 pupils were understandably disappointed when the Education Ministry gave a few hours notice that the Skolasajf opening would be postponed by a week because the necessary administrative work for the start of this summer school was not completed on time. Not surprisingly, the Malta Union of Teachers and the Ministry of Education had very different explanations for this chaotic start. A blame game soon ensued.
The MUT reported that “for the children’s welfare and safety, it advised its members to send children back home at those centres where not enough staff were deployed to take care of the safety of such children”. It felt it had to point out that the directive issued did not amount to industrial action.
The Minister of Education claimed that he was let down by the management of the Foundation for Educational Services. He also stated that part of the problem was that a number of teachers committed themselves to Skolasajf but then backed out at the last minute. The minister promised, not very convincingly though, to hold an inquiry to discover who was responsible for this failure.
Good governance principles for the public sector dictate that government ministers are not only responsible for defining policy but also for ensuring that their ministries function effectively in providing the public services they are responsible for.
Evarist Bartolo did well to apologise for this embarrassing failure of his ministry to deliver the services of Skolasajf as originally promised.
Many argue that politicians are ultimately accountable to the public for serious failures in the management of their ministries. Admittedly, the Skolasajf incident may not be classed as a serious failure, however, it certainly raised doubts about the ability of the top brass in the Education Ministry to deliver changes that are so badly needed in our educational sector.
The government has rightly emphasised the need to cut down on bureaucracy in the public sector. It may be time to insist more strongly on the need for good management in providing government services that are financed by taxpayers. This is not just about better work practices, and more competent executives in the civil service, but also about holding people to account for their actions.
Those who say that education should be left in the hands of educators may be missing an important point: taxpayers’ money must be managed well whether it is used to build a school or to provide an educational service. Only when these principles are put in practice will politicians win the trust of the vast majority of people who are paying for public services.
In the case of Skolasajf, parents were let down by bad management and weak leadership in the execution of a fairly simple project.