Another set of educational statistics from Eurostat confirms that despite some improvement in recent years Malta still lags behind most other EU countries in the level of achievement of its students. “Malta has the third-lowest number of tertiary educated peopled aged 30 to 34 years among all the EU member states. With only 26.6 per cent of those in the 30-34 age bracket having tertiary education, Malta is almost seven percentage points away from reaching its targets in 2020.”

Those who have a special interest in seeing our educational achievement levels improve are familiar with a multiplicity of statistics that show that many of our young people are under-performing in their studies. Rather than waiting for further studies and analysis as to why we are in this sad situation, social and economic analysts are more interested in knowing what the education authorities are doing to remedy this situation.

Research confirms that there are some reliable solutions to the problem of under-achievement. Various studies conducted in the US show that “the only factor that can create student achievement is a knowledgeable skilled teacher”. According to the Harvard Journal of Legislation, “every dollar spent on raising teacher quality netted greater student achievement gains than did any other use of school resources”.

Of course, what matters is whether Malta is facing similar challenges to upgrade the quality of its teachers. Many argue that teachers’ working conditions are not ideal: poor pay, mediocre school management systems, lack of respect to the teaching profession from students and parents, and failure to assess the performance of teachers on a regular basis are some of the reasons behind poor teacher morale and even poorer student achievement.

“The bottom line is that there is no way to create good schools without good teachers. It is the administrator who creates a good school. And it is the teacher who creates a good classroom.” Successful schools stress good teaching practices. They invest in their teachers and their effectiveness in the classroom.

One cannot ignore that part of the problem of educational under-achievement is of a social nature. Teachers on their own cannot compensate fully for a distressed home environment to which some students are exposed. But motivated teachers can help young people coming from such deprived environments.

Educational leaders know that what matters is whether schools can offer their most vulnerable students good teachers trained in effective strategies to teach strong academic and vocational knowledge and skills.

Educational achievement is not just about fancy programmes that will see students using computer tablets. It is about excellent classroom management; it is about high academic and vocational engagement; it is about a positive, reinforcing, cooperative environment and encouragement of self-regulation.

Perhaps too much emphasis is being made on the building or refurbishment of schools and introduction of fads-of-the-year programmes that give a shiny gloss to educational reform. Teacher preparation is one of the strongest predictors of student achievement. Unmotivated teachers can hardly be expected to inspire their students.

The time is right to give teachers a bigger role in restructuring education. To achieve better results, we need the best graduates to stimulate students to love learning and invest in themselves to achieve their dreams in life.