Students are being denied the opportunity to take ethics classes as an alternative to religion due to lack of demand in their schools, but the Education Department is not carrying out any assessment to determine the demand that may exist.
Ethics education was introduced as a pilot project at the start of the scholastic year, and is currently offered in two colleges. As of next year, the subject will be rolled out across other colleges depending on demand.
However, when contacted, an Education Ministry spokesman confirmed that demand is assessed solely on the basis of the number of students currently refusing to attend religion classes.
No assessment is taking place as to the number of students who would opt for such classes if they were offered, but who are content to attend religion classes since they are not.
At least two primary schools have written to the Education Department requesting the possibility of offering ethics education to their students, but were turned down on this basis, the Times of Malta is informed.
“The number of students currently opting out of religion classes underestimates the demand for ethics classes by those who would take the class were it offered,” said Ruben Overend, a spokesperson for the Maltese Association of Parents of State School Students.
Ethics classes should be available to any student
“But even if the demand analysis shows that in a particular class only one child wants ethics instead of religion, they should not be denied the possibility of following this subject instead of Catholic religion education.”
In January 2014, there were 1,411 students who were not taking religion classes, and this figure is on the rise. Parents have the right to ask for their children to be exempt from religion lessons, but if no alternative subject is offered, these students are often forced to sit out the lessons alone.
“I have specifically asked for my daughter not to sit exams in religion but she still has to remain in class; she cannot walk out because there is nowhere else for her to go,” said Marie Briguglio, whose daughter’s school was one of those to have their request for ethics education turned down.
“Very few parents would opt for their child not to sit for anything rather than sitting for religion.I’d rather my daughter remainsin class with her friends than alone in a hall or in the headmas-ter’s office.”
Roger Tirazona, an ethics teacher and chairperson of the Malta Ethics Teachers Association, said ethics classes should be available to any student who wished to sit for them, but that a balance had to be reached with the number of trained teachers available.
A batch of 42 teachers graduated from the first specialised course for ethics teachers last December, and more are currently being trained. Mr Tirazona said the fear was that if the subject was introduced too quickly, the current crop of teachers would not be enough to cope with the demand.
“If that is the rationale behind the phasing-in, then I support it,” he said. “Still, it is every parent’s right to demand ethic education for their children, and they should be proactive about their demands, both to their heads of school and to the education authorities.”