Some O-level history students mentioned Napoleon Bonaparte as a leader in the 1950s and 1970s.

Some students who sat for the history O-level exam last May described Napoleon Bonaparte as a post-war Maltese political leader and struggled to tell the difference between the Independence and Integration proposals with the UK.

And yet, examiners reported that the overall performance of 16-year-olds was marginally better than last year’s.

In total, 61.4 per cent of the 233 students who sat for the exam earned a pass mark, compared to the 54 per cent pass rate registered in 2015.

Nevertheless, the examiners reported a number of worrying patterns – which had also been flagged in previous years – such as a lack of essential historical knowledge and basic linguistic skills.

Several candidates lacked basic vocabulary and had problems in both syntax and sentence construction, while others struggled to comprehend the questions.

Another recurrent trend highlighted by the examiners was the regurgitation of class notes and the weak effort to take an analytical approach.

Students confused Gerald Strickland with Dom Mintoff, and George Borg Olivier with Paul Borg Olivier

In Paper I, the core exam for which all students have to sit, Maltese history proved a tougher nut to crack than international history. A number of students distinguished themselves for their knowledge of Nazi Germany’s foreign policy, Cold War events which happened in Berlin and the Protestant Reformation.

On the other hand, the lowest average score was earned on the topic of Malta’s role in World War I, with the island’s title of ‘Nurse of the Mediterranean’ barely being mentioned.

As for Papers IIA and IIB, it transpired that political events which shaped Maltese history in the second half of the 20th century were far from clear to the younger generation.

While those of a certain age have vivid memories of both the 1956 Integration referendum on Malta’s proposed annexation to Britain and the subsequent turn of events that led to Independence in 1964, a significant number of students could not distinguish between the two.

Knowledge of the politico-religious dispute of the 1960s was also superficial, with students confusing Sir Gerald Strickland with Dom Mintoff, and George Borg Olivier with Paul Borg Olivier.

Confusion reigned concerning the names of major political figures of that era. Some mentioned Napoleon Bonaparte as a Maltese leader of the 1950s and 1970s.

Students were also tested on historical events as recent as 1987. Surprisingly, no candidate sitting for Paper IIB had any clue as to the nature of the constitutional amendments which guaranteed that the political party garnering the absolute majority of first-count votes would be given an absolute majority of parliamentary seats.