The government is finding it difficult to bring together a group of 240 16-year-olds who failed all or most of their O-levels but are motivated enough to enter a new programme and give the exams a second shot.
Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said the government would be opening a new school called Ġuże Ellul Mercer (GEM 16+) in Gżira for those who have just completed fifth form but failed their O-levels or only managed to obtain one pass.
“We’re trying to give them a second chance to learn the basic subjects but we’re finding it hard to recruit 240 students – it is a challenge which is making me anxious,” Mr Bartolo admitted at a press conference at the start of the new school year.
“We’re dealing with the hardest to reach students – children who have gone through life being told they’re hopeless. It’s a big gamble.
“But these students are tomorrow’s potential NEETS – people not in education, employment or training.”
The students will be given a stipend as an incentive – although, Mr Bartolo stressed, this did not mean giving them leave to merely park themselves at the school for a year without having the motivation to obtain at least three or four O-levels.
This year will see new, vocational subjects introduced in secondary schools, which will carry the same weight as other SEC subjects: agribusiness, health and social care, IT, engineering and hospitality.
He expressed disappointment at the intake of agribusiness students, adding that while Gozo had a workable number of students, Maltese students who chose the subject were very few.
This was reflected in the trend of farmers increasingly abandoning their fields.
“The message seems to be that it’s no longer worth it to work as a farmer. And we all know what happens if they abandon their fields – buildings start to mushroom.”
Twenty-one new graduates have been employed as physical education teachers.
A national programme will also be implemented to target children’s emotional development.
Half the students who complete fifth form exit the educational system without having acquired proficiency in a third language, Mr Bartolo said.
A pilot project was introduced last year where the teaching of Italian was carried out through a four-pronged approach: speaking, listening, reading and writing.
The new approach of teaching a third language proved so successful that parents were phoning the school to confirm whether their children’s good grades were correct, Mr Bartolo said.
The new approach will this year be extended to German and French. Mr Bartolo said the plan was to add Spanish to the list next year.
Meanwhile, nearly 300 students enrolled in a course offered by the Institute for Tourism Studies.
Total students:
State: 31,513
Church: 16,409
Independent: 7,498