The only way Malta can get top marks in literacy is if society, all the ministries and every individual becomes involved, according to Education Minister Evarist Bartolo.
By the end of June we should be in a position to explain how the introduction of tablets will be rolled out
Seventy per cent of students’ educational success depends on factors outside school, Mr Bartolo said, quoting a study by Finnish education guru Pasi Sahlberg.
Just 15 per cent depends on teachers’ abilities and delivery, while the remaining 15 per cent rests on schools’ environment and tools, among others.
“This clearly shows we need everybody on board if the literacy strategy is to succeed and have profound, long-lasting effects,” Mr Bartolo said.
The first step to rope in individuals will be the introduction of reading ambassadors – “role models who will probably be more effective than anybody else” – to encourage youngsters to read and write.
Mr Bartolo was yesterday announcing the framework for the National Literacy Strategy For All, which will serve as a basis for intensive consultation and remain open until the end of June.
The working groups tasked with fleshing out the policy’s different aspects will then consolidate an action plan to ensure the strategy is in place by October for the start of the next scholastic year.
The strategy focuses on traditional and digital literacy and Mr Bartolo said the introduction of tablets in primary schools – which was an electoral promise – would be discussed during the consultation process.
“By the end of June we should be in a position to explain how the introduction of tablets will be rolled out... all I can say is it cannot be a big bang approach,” Mr Bartolo said.
This strategy is being presented against a backdrop of poor results obtained by the island’s youngsters. In the 2010 Programme for International Assessment (PISA) the percentage of 15-year-olds who were low achievers in reading literacy stood at 36.3 per cent; considerably higher than the EU average of 19.7 per cent.
Another study, the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls), exposed similar worrying trends – the mean reading score of Maltese 10-year-olds was significantly lower than the international average.
“One of the biggest challenges schools face is how to remain relevant. The biggest danger is that schools no longer remain a learning space,” he said.
“Schools are sometimes not moving fast enough and several matters are connected with yesterday rather than tomorrow. It’s a challenge we humbly have to confront.”
Just two weeks ago, similar challenges were highlighted in Times of Malta by Carmel Borg, former dean of the Faculty of Education, who spoke of a “sick” education system where students were “victims of a quasi-irrelevant” process.
Reacting to Prof. Borg’s “provocative” remarks, Mr Bartolo said whoever made these comments had to understand they too were part of the problem.
“We cannot shoot everybody with one cannon. We need people like Carmel Borg on board to be part of the solution,” he said.
The consultation document will be available on the Education Ministry’s website www.education.gov.mt. Submissions can be sent to literacy.mede@gov.mt.
The way forward
• A school-leaving strategy that will address the educational system’s “casualties” will be unveiled later this week.
• An EU-funded project to address problems that marginalised and disadvantaged children face should be presented shortly.
• The strategy puts an accent on ensuring children are bilingual and can shift easily between Maltese and English.
• Teachers and heads will be empowered to plan and implement their own projects to provide literacy support to individual students who need it.
• Children and young people are expected to become accomplished in speaking, reading and writing across the curriculum.
• The goal is to produce lasting effects, while the fragmentation of educational services and literacy programmes has to be reduced.