Last year, Jan Figel, EU Commissioner responsible for education, said: "The major future challenges in the educational field are how to reform our learning systems to prepare our young people for jobs that do not exist yet, using technologies that have not been invented yet, in order to solve problems that have not been identified yet."

If we accept this view, we may need to adapt our educational systems so that they anticipate, rather than react to, developments.

Regrettably, educational structures are often slow-moving creatures - by the time they have limbered up to train people in a particular area of studies, demand in that area has already peaked.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of languages. Latin, to give but one example, continued to loom large in education long after demand for it had waned.

The problem is that forecasting future developments is no easy matter; indeed, it is a pursuit fraught with all sorts of hazards. In any event, a very strong case may actually be made against slavishly following demand as anticipated by some quango.

Many argue in favour of the traditional virtues of a broadly-based education where emphasis is not so much on content but on the nurturing of a capacity to analyse the very diverse situations we are increasingly confronted with and acting accordingly - as William Butler Yeats, following the wisdom of the ancient Greeks, put it: "Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire."

The ability to communicate in a number of languages is clearly essential in an increasingly globalised world, but multilingualism is known to have even wider beneficial consequences.

A 2009 report commissioned by the European Commission's Directorate General for Education and Culture, entitled 'Study on the Contribution of Multilingualism to Creativity', reached the conclusion that multilingualism also enhances thinking, learning, problem-solving and communication and thus helps people realise and expand their potential.

Multilingualism is not new to the Maltese. Like many individuals and groups characterised by liminality, namely living on the margin between different cultures, the Maltese have long had to be proficient in more than one language as they sought to communicate with overlords speaking languages other than their own.

Nowadays, the Maltese are masters of their own destiny and increasingly secure in their identity. As a consequence, which languages they choose to learn is determined no longer by the dictates of a foreign ruler or the shadow cast by an important neighbour but by what they consider to be desirable or useful.

If we take the figures for the number of secondary school students who sit for the Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) as a measurement of the relative importance of foreign languages in Maltese schools, we can see that long-established languages such as Italian and French have remained at the forefront but have lost some ground over the past few years, while more recent additions such as German and Spanish have registered moderate gains.

German was first introduced in government schools (GS) in 1970-1971, while Spanish was introduced in 1988-1989. Data on the language chosen in Form 1 in GS would seem to indicate that in the next few years the number of GS candidates sitting for the SEC exam in Spanish will continue to grow.

In 2008 more than three times as many students were studying German as opposed to Spanish in Form 5, reflecting choices made four years earlier, but in the same year the number of students opting for Spanish in Form 1 surpassed those choosing German. This would seem to augur well for the future of Spanish.

In overall terms, in fact, there seems to be increasing awareness locally of the importance of Spanish in the world and this phenomenon is not restricted to GS.

Leading independent schools, such as St Edward's and St Martin's, have followed in the steps of Verdala International School, a pioneer with regard to Spanish in Malta, and are offering - or are in the process of offering - Spanish to their students, and for good reason.

Spanish is a world language, in the sense that it is a language spoken internationally and learned by many people as a second language. After English, with 1,800 million speakers worldwide, Spanish is the second most spoken language with 495 million, followed by Russian (275 million), Portuguese (230 million) and French (200 million). As regards internet usage, on the other hand, Spanish is in third place with 124 million, after English and Mandarin.

It is the recognition of the position of Spanish as a world language that has caused the University of Malta to upgrade the subject from its previous position as a programme within the Mediterranean Institute to that of a department within the Faculty of Arts, alongside other modern foreign languages. For more information one can refer to www.um.edu.mt/arts/spanish/ which is still under construction.

A BA (Hons) course in Spanish Studies is scheduled to start in October and will be a broader and more modern approach to the study of modern languages than is currently the case for other languages: it takes in not only the language and literature of Spain and Latin America but also their music, art, history, theatre, film, anthropology, and other aspects.

To borrow the once-famous slogan of a well-known brand of beer, Spanish is set to refresh the parts other languages do not reach. A postgraduate certificate in education is also slated to start in October.

The Spanish government has been committed to the advancement of Spanish in Malta since it opened an embassy here and sends specialists who provide an important input.

The present Spanish Ambassador, María Isabel Vicandi, has been particularly supportive in this respect. She has been instrumental in the introduction of a Teaching Assistants Exchange Agreement, which permits graduates of Spanish to take up paid employment as English language conversation Assistants in Spanish schools for a year or two on completion of their studies.

This first-hand experience of the target language and culture is an absolute must for anyone who aspires to be proficient in a language.

A graffito on the Department of Spanish notice board, undoubtedly the work of an enthusiastic student, says, "We don't study Spanish; we live it, breathe it, eat it." Spanish has that effect on people.

Prof. Vassallo is head of Spanish at the University. For more information about new developments in Spanish Studies at the University of Malta, e-mail carmel.vassallo@um.edu.mt or phone the department's secretary in the morning on 2340 2974.