Are some educational systems more equal than others? James Debono looks at exam results to discover which of the three available school‘models’ produces the best achievers at Ordinary level
James Debono
Judging from the May 2008 O’ levels results, children attending Church schools registered the lowest failure rates in Maths, Maltese and Physics, among other subjects.
With the notable exception of Maltese, where they outperformed students attending independent schools, students attending State junior lyceums generally fared worse than those attending Church and private schools.
Students attending Independent schools registered the best results in English.
But while only 1.2% failed their English exam, 16% failed in Maltese.
Only 6% of those attending church schools and 13% of those attending junior lyceums failed their Maltese exam.
This could reflect high percentage of foreigners attending independent schools.
Church schools also represent the majority of students sitting for their computer studies exam. A total of 1,257 students sat for the computers studies exam in 2008. Only 34% of those sitting for this exam attended state schools. Almost half – 46.5% – of all those sitting for this exam attended church schools.
Malta boasts high level of private education The percentage of Maltese students attending a private school is higher than that registered in most European countries, even if Malta is not the only European country where state funds directly subsidise private or confessional education.
The most recent Education statistics issued by the National Office of Statistics in 2005 showed that 24.5% of primary and secondary school children attended church schools, while 12.3% attended independent private schools.
While in Malta only church schools receive state funding, this is not the case in The Netherlands and Sweden, where all independent schools are eligible for public funds.
In Sweden, education vouchers were introduced in 1992, making Sweden one of the first to follow the Dutch model.
Anyone can start a for-profit school. In Sweden, both independent schools and public schools receive public funding. But although all schools qualify for funding, in 2008 10% of Swedish pupils were enrolled in independent schools.
In the Netherlands private schools constitute over two-thirds of schools. But although a large number of these schools are faith-based, funding is not limited to any religious denomination.
In France private sector educates approximately 15% of primary school and 20% of secondary school pupils, percentages which have remained stable over the past decade. The bulk of private schools are Catholic. Most of these schools have entered in to contracts with the State which pays their staff salaries.
The Voice For All study, commissioned by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality last year, referred to a “significant discrepancy” between Catholic and non-Catholic students in the provision of free education, because while Catholic religion is thought in government schools, other religions are not given equal importance.
“Whereas Catholic families are free to choose between paid private or Church schools and free State education, non-Catholics do not have such an option if they wish their child to obtain a degree of religious education within the school they attend.”
The reality greatly hits Muslims, the second largest religion in Malta, where unlike Catholic families they do not have access to free tuition that includes religious education for their children.
The report noted that unlike Church schools, the faith-based Mariam al Batool primary school gets no State funding, instead depending on voluntary donations to supplement the funding from the World Islamic Call Society.
Even the national curriculum’s emphasis on religions other than Catholicism is merely perfunctory, consisting of “no more than a few hours’ tuition on the other major world religions, with little focus on the positive impact of inter-faith dialogue within a community.”
In this sense. the Mariam al Batool school is an exception to the rule – while the focus of religious teaching is based on Islam, the majority of staff members are Catholics and basic Catholic tuition is offered in line with the national curriculum.
Indeed the study notes how the school highlights “shared values and beliefs amongst various religions.”
Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below. Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.
