Education cannot be limited to inducing conformity, killing aspirations and ambition but must be expanded to encourage people to challenge ideas while equipping them with the skills needed in life, the Prime Minister said yesterday.
He was speaking at the launch of a new education initiative that brings together social partners, businesses and civil society organisations to enable people to obtain the skills and attitudes needed to succeed at work and be active participants in society.
Education Plus is a strategy for lifelong learning opportunities from early childhood education to adult learning. The idea is that people of all ages can get involved in programmes offered by organisations to develop skills that are relevant in life, beyond the knowledge acquired in schools.
We must do more to open horizons. We have to develop an education model related to the age we live in
Joseph Muscat described Education Plus as a groundbreaking concept in education: “Education is still based on the military model of conformity. We must do more to open horizons. We have to develop an education model related to the age we live in and address the gap between the reality in the classroom and the reality we live in.”
He stressed that education had to adapt to today’s realities. “It should not kill aspirations and ambition but offer different experiences. People should not just adopt what other people think but challenge, discuss and share ideas,” Dr Muscat said.
Education Plus honours the four pillars of education recommended by Unesco: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be and learning to live together.
The country’s education system focused on the need to know but gave scant attention to the other pillars essential for life, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said.
“While acknowledging that out-of-school factors like poverty and social exclusion affect student achievement, the ministry seeks to improve students’ learning experiences by encouraging creativity, critical literacy, entrepreneurship and innovation at all levels,” Mr Bartolo said.
He said over 200 organisations had already shown an interest in participating in the programme, including the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the army and unions.
“Education is everybody’s responsibility. Seventy per cent of what is learnt is not within the classroom. Real life experience cannot be taught in class,” Mr Bartolo said.
Industry also benefits from the programme as people develop the skills and knowledge required in the workplace.
The ministry will be approaching other organisations from all sectors of society to get involved in the programme.
Yet, the initiative is not only targeting corporations that give insight into workplace knowledge and skills but also partnerships with voluntary organisations because these can teach values lacking in society.
“Voluntary organisations can help instil a sense of solidarity; this is an important value,” he said.
The army is already contributing to the Alternative Learning Programme aimed at providing a holistic approach to character formation. A group of students was immersed in a military environment with emphasis placed on teaching respect, communication, teamwork and being of service to others. The final phase was based on community service at Id-Dar tal-Providenza, Siġġiewi, where students were encouraged to help others.
For more information, visit www.education.gov.mt/plus.