I have no idea what the Maltese Matsec O level is like nowadays, but I imagine it’s probably harder than it was in June 1989, the year I sat my Matriculation. I took the exam at the end of Form 4 – a year early – and gained a Level 3 pass without much effort.
That mark, however, did not reflect accurately my ability to communicate fluently and naturally in Maltese. Had I been able to speak the language in 1989 as easily as passing the exam, or indeed as well as I can write and spell it, I might now be viewing Maltese quite differently as a compulsory component of our higher educational system.
The way Maltese is used in everyday life is another thing altogether. It comes most naturally to those who have never sat the exam and in all likelihood would not have passed it if they had.
My mother for instance. The literature would have bored her, the ‘complicated’ spelling (and grammar) defeated her and she wouldn’t know the derivative of masġar, let alone that it was a nom mimmat. But she certainly knows her wood from her trees in spoken Maltese. She has the language at her fingertips; I, on the other hand, frequently have to stop and think. The fact is, I just don’t think or dream in it.
I’m not for one minute being dismissive of Maltese, but the part it plays in our higher education has long been a matter of concern. If the Matric of my generation was flawed, then today’s Matsec O level is equally flawed, and possibly even more. It’s just a ‘bad exam’ – a bête noire for certain students because it unfairly excludes them from a degree in a completely unrelated subject or field. Some of these students, incidentally, are very bright – brilliant even.
Why should this be? An undergraduate or postgraduate degree in Maltese or Law would, quite rightly, be a different matter (although the point of Maltese literature for law students might still be questioned). It might be argued that Ellul Mercer’s Leli ta’ Ħaz-Żgħir, Dun Karm’s Bjuda, Serracino Inglott’s Xita (a firm favourite) and all the other poems and prose works we were forced to learn may have their place in a general education and be essential matriculation requirements for a Maltese or related degree. But are they justified as mandatory matriculation for all students in all disciplines?
It quite eludes how you can stop someone becoming a doctor or reading for an English, IT or Engineering degree for want of passing the Matsec Maltese O level.
A bête noire for certain students because it unfairly excludes them from a degree in a completely unrelated subject or field
Of course, the point will be made that students should be able to listen to lectures in the language they feel more comfortable. So why not Maltese if the majority find it easier and if the lecturer is happy? But this argument is not about such an informal arrangement. It’s about a compulsory requirement in a multicultural European country, where English and Maltese are official languages enjoying constitutional parity.
I left University almost 20 years ago. Most lectures were in English, although I’m sure a good many lecturers switched to Maltese now and again. This would have gone unnoticed. Lecture notes on the other hand were dictated in English, as were printed handouts. And as far as I know, English, our ‘other’ language, has always been the default language of educators. Lecturers were – and still are – obliged to speak in English in the presence of foreigners.
Even if we were to argue that a basic understanding of Maltese is an essential requirement for entry to a Maltese university (in the same way that English is), I still think the time has come to revisit the examination syllabus. The standards currently expected and the unfair incorporation of literature constitute, to my mind at least, a stumbling block which does more harm than good. And this handicap seems especially contrived when you consider that the matriculation requirement is waived for ‘mature students’. What is the sense in not allowing an 18-year-old into university but then opening the door on his 23rd birthday?
When you consider that our hospitals are teeming with foreign doctors who didn’t have to learn the language or the literature and that many Maltese doctors who studied abroad (presumably because they didn’t get their Maltese) are welcome to practise at Mater Dei, you start to wonder what purpose this discriminatory requirement actually serves. For, while I definitely agree that an understanding of Maltese is crucial for any doctor or nurse working in a Maltese hospital (the implications of a misdiagnosis are huge), medical notes are always written in English.
In view of all this, I really do believe that the Maltese language requirement can be satisfied at a far less onerous level – a level which leaves literature out of the equation.
If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably sit for both my Ordinary and Advanced Matriculations in Maltese. I happen to love the language and I even enjoyed a good deal of the literature. I also hate the way the language is slowly being eroded and refuse to be complicit in this process.
But I do believe that, while good exams challenge, inspire and teach you something, bad exams can stifle intellectual curiosity and discourage learning. A language examination which does not guarantee effective communication is a case in point, as is one that is just an unnecessary hoop through which all aspiring university students have to jump. Besides, a linguistic ‘test’ of this kind is too exclusive and creates elitism.
In a recent survey, when compared with other cabinet ministers, the Education Minister Evarist Bartolo scored an A. I do believe that if he can finally address this matriculation anomaly with the sensitivity it deserves, he’ll deserve a star on top of that.
michelaspiteri@gmail.com