Another education reform document has landed on the desks of educationists as mediocre achievement levels worry policymakers about the country’s socio-economic prospects for the next few decades. The Post-Secondary Working Group has launched a report that is peppered with statistics and “pragmatic recommendations”.
The working group says it identifies “long-standing challenges that could be addressed by policymakers within 24 to 36 months”. More than a strategic document this is a tactical one or an extended business plan that will, hopefully, see the education system become more equitable by ensuring that those who pass through it achieve satisfactory results irrespective of their social background.
Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said the report was non-academic and provided a practical vision. A first reading is certainly not an easy-going exercise because some important issues are well tackled while others are noticeable by their absence.
The Ministry of Education does well to stimulate discussion on our education system by publishing such reports and opening them up for consultation. One hopes that all stakeholders give their feedback so that final decisions are based on sound if diverse opinions on how to improve educational achievement.
If one were to dissect the statistics produced by institutions like the Programme for International Student Assessment, Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development one could reasonably conclude that our educational system has suffered from benign neglect over the past three decades despite ever-changing reforms. Post-secondary education, as rightly pointed out by Mr Bartolo, “has often been overlooked in the education sector”.
The political debate on the educational system has mainly concerned the question of funding and access. But we cannot crowd out the issue of accountability. In an increasingly competitive world there are three issues that need to be given more importance: the escalating cost of providing free education, the pressures of competition at home and abroad and the effect of fast-changing technology that is affecting productivity and efficiency in the workplace as in other spheres of life.
One of the challenges identified in this report is the “little recognition of 21st century skills in the curriculum”. Employers can certainly vouch for this worrying reality. The modern workplace, which is increasingly providing digitalised services, needs ITC savvy workers that are creative, can work in a team, flexible and prepared to improve their skills.
The first recommendation of the report is to “ensure policy buy-in translates into commitment to implement in sector within prescribed time frames”. If this recommendation is to be more than wishful thinking, it will need a motivated team of educators passionate about their profession, prepared to be held accountable for success or failure and compensated as well as other similarly-qualified graduates in private industry.
Recommendation 23 is to “explore possibilities for increasing the number of sixth form colleges in Malta and Gozo”. As costs escalate in bricks-and-mortar schools, it would have been more appropriate to recommend new electronic learning alternatives. Kaplan and Phoenix universities in the US, as well as other educational institutions in Europe, have for years now embraced digitalised methods of teaching.
Ultimately, the acid test of this reform will be its ability to improve educational attainment.