Why is our educational system failing our children and youths? Why do we lag behind nearly all the EU countries in educational attainment?
Looking at Eurostat statistics we quickly realise that something must be wrong. The former communist countries, now EU members, fare much better than we do in educating their young and Cyprus – a good example to compare ourselves with – doubles our figures.
When it comes to youth education attainment level we place at the end of the list. This bracket analyses the 20-24 age group who managed to reach at least upper secondary level.
In 2000 only 40.9 per cent of our youth had access to upper secondary level of education compared to 79 per cent in Cyprus, 79 per cent in Estonia, 77.5 per cent in Luxembourg and 43 per cent in Portugal. The same pattern recurs for the years from 2001 to 2006. Although we are slightly increasing our numbers, we still lag behind the mentioned countries with a few exceptions when compared to Portugal.
Cyprus more than doubles our figures when it comes to females and nearly does the same trick when it comes to males.
The percentage of early school leavers in Malta is shocking. Whereas the average rate for the years 2000-2006 reaches the 40% mark, in Cyprus it is less than 20 per cent. It is quite a long way to go to reach Switzerland and Finland who have an average rate of less than 10 per cent.
It is no wonder that we are having more female students attending university than males, because the rates of those leaving school early are higher in males than in females. But with regard to both genders, we are the least educated in Europe.
When it comes to four-year-olds we have one of the highest entries; nearly all four-year-olds attend a kindergarten. Statistics do not include daycare centres, nurseries and play groups. Whereas our figure hits the 100 per cent mark, that of Cyprus ranges from 50 to 60 per cent, meaning that while we are introducing our children earlier to the educational system, we are losing them long before our European partners.
The pupil/teacher ratio is basically similar to Cyprus, denoting that our system is not being as effective in utilising the same input of teachers.
Census figures show that we have a high illiteracy density in the South and in the inner harbour region. James Debono’s analysis in last Sunday’s issue of MaltaToday is revealing in this respect.
The million dollar question is why our education system is failing the younger generation. One should not exclude culture oriented attitudes but educational authorities have a lot to worry about to turn the tide.
An ignorant population would lack the techniques to be innovative and to cope with the ever-changing skills in the labour market. The global market phenomenon puts more strain on the quality of our work force. It is no longer sustainable to find jobs for the unemployable. The MCAST array of courses for the less “academic” students is a good step in the right direction. We cannot expect that all our students join the traditional professions and the more widespread and innovative the choice of subjects we offer to our students, the more would be the intake.
In the past, trade schools filled the gap and proved to be a satisfactory solution to those who lacked academic flair but excelled in technical skills.
The School of Beauty, ITS and other vocational centres all point in this direction .
However, we have to realise that we are getting some fundamentals wrong. The first hurdle to development is the inward looking mentality of the political class. Over the last 20 years we have been assisting to continued boasting of fictional educational advancement: heads of departments in the educational division mushroomed by the day and we spent huge millions .
The most worrying thing about finding a solution is that educational advancement does not happen accidentally (as we often believe) and it takes time to nurture. The fact that no one is commenting on our bad results and the lack of consciousness in benchmarking our achievements (or lack of them) compounds the problem and fails to beam even the faintest ray of light at the end of the tunnel.
When Minister Austin Gatt was predicting that Smart City would have to import workers from abroad because we would not have enough trained personnel, he was stating the obvious and the inevitable.
I am not the expert to suggest a fast solution but the country has already lost valuable time. We need to catch up with the rest of Europe as early as possible. Unfortunately, the government has got its priorities wrong. Instead of throwing millions of liri literally into the sea to construct an ugly Gozo port, more funds could have been pumped in the educational sector. But now that the “ignorance syndrome” has progressed we need first of all to craft a detailed strategic plan, if need be with the assistance of foreign experts who can objectively pinpoint our weak spots and suggest a way forward.