Mirana Agius Silvio, LEAD participant

Recognising education as the key to human, social and economic development is crucial. It is what drives the government to want to ensure a quality education for all, as well as endeavour to have lifelong learning citizens.  Money invested in education should never be queried, as our children’s education should be a priority for all of us. 

About 3,500 university students graduate yearly in various disciplines, with Malta enjoying the highest employment rate for recent graduates in the EU.  I don’t think you can describe this as a poor return, although we all agree that we can do more.

Hence, the last five years have seen no less than a 60 per cent increase in government expenditure on education. While recognising and giving value to education, this government has made this higher expenditure possible not by increasing existing taxes but by investing back into education, the fruits of a stronger economy. 

However, education is not limited to what happens in the classroom and not the sole responsibility of the educators but it should involve parents and society alike.

The continuous reforms which commenced 15 years ago have not only proven challenging for us educators but have also made it difficult to assess which of these reforms were successful and which did not yield the desired results. As is, today’s University students entered the educational system 15 to 20 years ago, while the early school-leavers of today started their formative years in school some 12 years ago.

Recent statistics have shown that the rate of early school-leavers is down to 18.6 per cent, a decrease of 13.6 per cent in 2017 when compared to the 32.2 per cent of 2006. 

And what’s more important is that the government is spearheading the important changes needed to improve this result. Four years ago, the government introduced the Alternative Learning Programme, with the intention to reach out to 16-year-olds who had not sat for any SEC.

The future looks bright. The introduction of the “My Journey” will ensure that more students are reached by giving them the opportunity to add vocational and applied subjects to their compulsory academic subjects. Millions are being invested in changing classrooms into workshops in a revolutionary move for our schools.

We have recognised the importance of a child-centred approach where students take centre-stage in their learning through learning outcomes and continuous assessments.

I believe that giving our students a voice in their learning, moving away from the one-size-fits-all system and providing them with a personalised, relevant and quality education is what will yield the best return with better results.

Justin Schembri, Nationalist Party candidate

Former US President Barack Obama claims that if we think education is expensive, then one shall wait to see how much ignorance costs in the 21st century. This is the essence of valuing education, which according to the ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’, each and every child has the right to develop to “the maximum extent possible”. Thus the government is duly responsible for the betterment of education in Malta.

Furthermore, the World Bank’s Education Strategy 2020 emphasises the tagline “Invest early, invest smartly, and invest for all”. The strategy clearly states that an investment in education will support the development and growth of a nation starting from the very early stages to tertiary education.

Therefore, governance is a major issue facing the current educational reform while the government’s failure in the education sector is evident by its lack of empowerment to the main authors in education, our teachers, a bold statement which goes against various researchers and academics studying the field.

The Ministry of Education seems to be taking control of everything, showing a lack of trust towards the teaching profession which had been threatened by the Education Act presented in Parliament, only to be withdrawn following a national outcry, a few weeks ago. Because of the government’s lack of responsibility and ability in the Education system, results achieved are proving deplorable outcomes when compared to other EU countries.   

According to the report ‘Growing United: upgrading Europe’s Convergence Machine’ (World Bank, April 2018), Malta has as close to 40 per cent of its 18 to 24 cohort who are neither furthering their education at tertiary level, nor enrolling in vocational training, having the lowest numbers among the 28 countries in the EU.

Furthermore, this suggests that our education system is not catering for the long-term, a scenario emphasized in the latest Attractiveness Survey presented by Ernst & Young which says that 64 per cent of Maltese employers are deprived of Maltese young people because of their lack of education and/or training which signifies this.

 This is duly attributed to the SEC results being obtained. For example, in 2017, only an average of 37.3 per cent of 15-year-olds acquired their pass marks in State schools, while Church and independent schools are at 68.4 per cent and 57.1 per cent respectively, this despite spending up to 14 per cent of Malta’s total spending in 2016 according to the 2018’s edition of the European Commission’s Education and Training Monitor when the EU average is set at 10.2 per cent.

While many seem to point at the teaching profession itself, including the Minister of Finance Edward Scicluna who declared this on national TV, the real reason behind this failure does not point entirely at our professionals. When one realises that educators working with children are entrusted with the most important years of children, and are the single most important factor affecting how much our children learn, talent and heart aren’t enough to make a good teacher, as in all professions. The government must seriously invest in the teaching profession to effectively provide the best possible professionals. 

Carmel Asciak, treasurer, Democratic Party

Malta’s spending on education compares well with that of other EU states. Yet approximately one-third of all school-leavers do not achieve acceptable results, after passing through Malta’s educational system, with the proportion of students remaining in training and education among the lowest in the EU.

Ways in which the educational standard of school-leavers can be improved should be a central question to politicians and of interest to every taxpayer. Allocating substantial funds to education is not translating to quality and taxpayers need to be assured that spending is directed to those areas that are known to impact learning most effectively.

While well-resourced and modern schools motivate children to learn, it is the work that teachers do with their students that has the greatest effect on children’s achievement. Where then does funding for education need to be directed?

Improving teachers’ salaries alone may not be enough to attract the best candidates to the profession. This needs to be matched with a concerted effort to raise the status of educators through increasing their autonomy in taking decisions in the best interest of their students. 

Successful educational systems adopt a less centralised approach to teachers’ work, and educators are respected and trusted by the public in general. Educators need to be supported through professional learning opportunities regarding innovative and inclusive methodologies. It is imperative that both teacher education providers, the University of Malta and the Institute for Education, upskill their own teacher educators to ensure that pre- and in-service teachers are receiving the type of professional learning that addresses the individual needs of all their students based on principles of equity. 

Likewise, teacher mentoring needs to be strengthened across schools.

Moreover, it is clearly time to provide schools with in-school psycho-social support that works to address student emotional and mental well-being, thus sustaining teachers’ work.

Money needs to be directed to support students in remaining in education well beyond the compulsory requirement and it may be an opportune time for the nation to start looking at extending compulsory education beyond 16. 

The current rigid system appears to lack relevance for a portion of the school population. Delaying formal learning in the early years could reap love for learning in the long-term.  Evidence from local research, that also needs to be substantially funded, should form the basis on which such decisions are taken. 

In line with its social justice principles, the Democratic Party views the returns from education as more citizens moving up the economic ladder through improved educational attainment. This has wide implications, ranging from more secure and better employment opportunities, healthier life choices and improved participation in politics leading to a more inclusive, democratic and tolerant multi-cultural society.

If you would like to put any questions to the parties in Parliament send an e-mail marked clearly Question Time to editor@timesofmalta.com.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece

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