When it comes to education, where you come from is still a determining factor.
Children from inner harbour localities fare worse than other children in Malta in the Junior Lyceum examinations, while Gozitan children score higher than others from more affluent localities.
The five localities with the worst Junior Lyceum results, namely Birgu, Marsa, Santa Lucija, Bormla and Isla, are all situated in Malta’s south harbour region. Barely 27 per cent of children from Birgu and 28 per cent of children from Marsa passed this year.
This confirms the existence of an educational north-south divide, already evident when it comes to university and junior college admissions.
Yet surprisingly, the best performers in the junior lyceum exam are young Gozitan children and those hailing from northern rural communities.
Mellieha emerges as the locality with the highest percentage of successful students, with 88 per cent passing their exam.
Mellieha is followed by Gozitan localities like Victoria which has a pass rate of 84 per cent. Rural Mgarr (Malta) also has a pass rate of 80 per cent.
Marsaxlokk – traditionally known as a fishing village – emerges as the southern locality with the highest rate of junior lyceum passes. More than 80 per cent of the 36 Xlukkajri sitting for the examination passed. Marsaxlokk’s record contrasts with that of neighbouring Marsaskala, where only 56 per cent passed their exam.
This could be an indication that children hailing from rural communities receive extra encouragement from parents who want them to seek new pastures in life.
As usual, middle class towns like Attard and Balzan also fare well with a pass rate of more than 76 per cent. But other middle-class localities like Swieqi and Sliema fare worse than rural and Gozitan localities.
In Sliema, only 50 per cent of students passed the exam. Yet only 34 students from Sliema actually sat for it – an indication that many students from this locality attend private schools.
Only 60 per cent of the 20 students from Swieqi sitting for the exam passed, while in more working class Pembroke, the pass rate among the 48 students sitting for the exam was 77 per cent.
Thanks to the reform in the education system through the introduction of educational clusters and colleges, the Junior Lyceum exam is less of a determining life factor than it was in the past.
While previously the junior lyceum exam determined whether a child would end up in a Junior Lyceum or an area secondary, the new system does away with this rigid segregation while still streaming students within the same college on the basis of the Junior Lyceum exam.
Over the years, the number of children passing the junior lyceum exam has increased dramatically from just 16 per cent in 1982, to over 60 per cent in 2006 and 2007.
Education Minister Louis Galea has also appointed a working group to explore whether the Junior Lyceum should be replaced by a better system of assessment.