Malta has ranked 35th out of 45 countries in a study on literacy and reading skills, exposing the need for children to be more exposed to reading and books, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said this morning.

The study, carried out in April 2011 across 96 schools, revealed that Maltese schools children lagged behind on basis reading skills, faring better in the English language than in Maltese.

Mr Bartolo said these results showed that more emphasis must be placed on the importance of reading, stressing the crucial role parents and grandparents in exposing children to books and to reading.

He said there was a correlation between social standing and poverty and children’s linguistic abilities.

Mr Bartolo said the study showed how Malta was not dedicating enough school time to reading, with 34 fewer hours dedicated specifically to reading when compared to the international average.

Malta was dedicating 181 hours to language instruction, 51 hours less than the international average.

The time dedicated to reading was 42 hours less than the international average, with Malta utilising 104 hours over a whole scholastic year for reading.

The report recommends the presence of more books in schools classrooms and libraries.

Mr Bartolo said the government was working on a National Literacy Strategy which will be announced in the coming weeks where the introduction of tablets will be announced. He stressed, however, that tablets would not achieve better results in reading skills. From a young age, he said, children must be exposed to books.