Education Minister Dolores Cristina told Parliament yesterday that her Ministry was preparing the necessary documentation to be presented to the Libyan Cabinet in connection with education services to be given to 1,000 Libyan students in Malta.
Introducing a Bill amending the Education Act, the minister said that her officials had met with different providers to ascertain the best service which could be given to the Libyan students.
They were to reside in Malta while studying English and other subject areas at different levels.
She added that more than 45,000 Libyan students were to be sent abroad for their studies.
The Bill aimed at updating parts of the Education Act which were required for the better functioning of schools within compulsory education, examinations and the teaching profession and further and higher education to reflect European and national developments.
It also increased the functions of the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) to undertake functions relating to qualifications, recognition, licensing, accreditation and quality assurance of further and higher education. It streamlined also the regulatory and policy function within further and higher education in one entity to be known as the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE).
Mrs Cristina said that reforms in primary education led to the removal of streaming. She believed that the smooth transition from primary to secondary education decreased stress on pupils and parents. Children progressed according to their level of competence and basic skills and competences were strengthened.
The benchmarking examinations gave an indication of the way forward. The College system gave good results.
She spoke on inclusive education where students with special needs started receiving mainstream education. This was a radical reform where all children were given equal opportunity in an inclusive setting. This also provided for increased professional services marking the changes in quality education.
Students were today given more opportunity than ever before to be creative. On the national curriculum framework, the Ministry had received a lot of feedback, which was being evaluated.
The amendments included definitions for formal, informal and non-formal learning.
Mrs Cristina said she had received recommendations for changes in the Matsec examinations. The number of early school leavers from 54 per cent in 2001 decreased to 34 per cent last year. It was the government’s intention of continuing this downward trend.
The NCFHE would now be responsible not only as regulator of the sector and the recognition of qualifications but also for the accreditation of programmes of study and licensing of the institutions in this sector.
Regulations had been drawn up to ensure that providers of further and higher education gave students a good service, A transition period was to be provided so that providers could raise standards.
The budgetary vote for independent schools was also increasing.