The new Maltese literature text book, Bejn Ħaltejn, is designed with content that appeals to young people.

Students struggle to express themselves and to write grammatically correct Maltese and this is leading to more than a quarter failing their Sec exam, according to Bernard Micallef, the head of the university’s department of Maltese.

“I think the majority of students grasp the subject but struggle with expressivity and grammar,” Dr Micallef said.

While he wished to see better results in Maltese, he acknowledged that there had been an improvement in recent years.

The Sunday Times of Malta recently published a story showing that 26 per cent of students who registered for the Maltese Sec (secondary education certificate) exam had failed. This exam is similar to an O level.

This has improved compared to the 32 per cent failure rate five years ago.

Dr Micallef, who is a member of the Matsec (Matriculation and Secondary Education Certificate) board’s syllabus panel, said that as from the next scholastic year students would be tested on a new literature syllabus that was designed with them in mind.

I often hear parents speak to each other in Maltese but then turn onto their children and speak in English

They would be tested according to the new text book called Bejn Ħaltejn – a collection of poetry and prose. This has replaced Qawsalla – the Maltese literature text book for about two decades.

Olvin Vella, the president of the Akkademja tal-Malti who was also on the Matsec syllabus panel, said the new book contained fewer works but focused on “the best examples of Maltese literature”.

While classic authors, like Dun Karm, were featured, it also contained works by contemporary writers like Adrian Grima and Clare Azzopardi.

The subjects tackled were selected to include themes that appealed to young people, he said.

These included immigration, the environment and love.

Mr Vella, a former secondary school Maltese teacher, said he was not particularly worried by the outcome of the May exam. “The way I see it, those who don’t study can’t expect to pass… You have to compare the results with those of other subjects and the failure rate is similar,” he said.

Data obtained from the Education Ministry showed that when it came to English and Maths – the other two compulsory subjects needed for students to get into sixth form – the failure rate stood at 17 and 22 per cent, respectively.

Charles Magro, a former secondary school teacher, said he believed the failure rate in Maltese was due to two main reasons: the vast syllabus and the manner in which the subject was taught.

Mr Magro said that when it came to literature students struggled to keep track of the number of authors they had to study.

When it came to language they were not being exposed to well-spoken Maltese. The subject, especially literature, was not being taught in a way that appealed to young people today, he said.

This would hopefully be addressed in the new syllabus that will be put to the test this year.

Michael Spagnol, a lecturer at the University of Malta, urged people to speak Maltese more often and this applied especially to parents.

“I often hear parents speak to each other in Maltese but then turn onto their children and speak in English – which is not always good English either,” he said.

Nowadays, young people are very exposed to English through cartoons, movies and the internet. But when it comes to Maltese their exposure depended on how often they heard the language spoken at home.

“Language is the way we transmit our thoughts and emotions… but it also reflects a culture and way of life that is unique,” he said.