I was intrigued to read in The Times about the problems experienced in teaching students in primary school who neither speak nor read Maltese or English.

Rather than perceiving it as a problem, perhaps one could look at it as a blessing in disguise. After all, young children have an innate ability to learn any language – they are virtual polyglots-in-waiting, so to speak, a talent much sought after in our global village.

I am sure that there are enough intelligent people in Malta to formulate a suitable plan to exploit the situation to everybody’s benefit and present it to the European Commission for 100 per cent funding.

A good start would be to contact those teachers who are coping and utilise their ideas as a template.

As an Irishman living in Malta over the winter period, I would like to add that if something is not done, Malta may well find itself in a similar position to Ireland. There, despite several years of schooling in learning Irish, most of us cannot converse in any language other than English: a terrible indictment of our education system and an example of what can go wrong, even with the best of intentions.