The Maltese government has not given sufficient priority to providing resources towards the integration of migrant children in Maltese schools, a study has found.
A draft report of "An Early School Leaving Strategy for Malta", carried out by DSG Consultancy, which works closely with the Education Ministry, and published today by the UNHCR, acknowledged that Malta was becoming a more diverse country and emphasised that this required new approaches to promote effective integration.
As a result, some teachers feared that children of migrant background were at risk of disengaging from the education system.
The Ministry of Education had initiated a public consultation on a draft strategy directed to tackle early school leaving in Malta.
A previous study carried out in 2010 showed that there were 555 students from an ethnic minority background.
The report observed that despite these high numbers the state was not recognising the importance of providing more specialised resources which would help the integration of these students in the different school communities.
It warned that people with a migration background, with the exception of the UK and Portugal, were at a greater risk of dropping out of school.
"School leaders and teachers across the three sectors of education emphasise that there is an increasingly large number of children from migrant populations and that unless these children, and their parents, are supported with pro-active measures that allow them to integrate as quickly as possible then [these] children or youths will be at risk of disengaging from the education system," the report said.
Mireille Mifsud, durable solutions officer, at the UNHCR Malta office agreed that there was a need for further attention to the issue:
“It is one of UNHCR's priorities to focus on the situation of refugee children and to support their integration, especially through promoting school attendance.
"We welcome any further government initiatives in this regard. At UNHCR we are preparing to support the Education Ministry with tailored toolkits that can be used by teachers in class to raise awareness about the importance of effective integration."
The full report can be read here.