A-levels – students opt for religion as ‘easy way out’

James Debono

An examiners’ report on students’ performance levels in the MATSEC religion exam is claiming a substantial number of students choose religious knowledge at intermediate level “because of their erroneous perception that this subject needs no extraordinary commitment to achieve the grade.”
According to the report, most candidates do not have the necessary skills to demonstrate a critical analysis of the topic. The way essays were written, the report said, revealed “a serious lack of ability on the part of students to express themselves clearly”, once again showing the low control Maltese students have on written language.
A total of 474 students sat for the religion exam. Only 16% failed the exam, but less than 2% of candidates were awarded an A grade. 11% were given a B grade and 26% got a C grade.
The largest number of students (30%) of students just managed to scrape through with a D. Another 14% were given an E grade.
The report questions the method of teaching that is going on in schools. “Too many avoid answering questions requiring knowledge that must be obtained through studying,” the report stressed, expressing disappointment that a considerable number of students do not know simple Catholic terminologies or beliefs.
For instance: according to the report, almost none of the students could give a definition to the Alpha and the Omega – an appellation of God in Revelations.
Quite a number of students do not have the slightest notion of what “Catechesis” is all about. They gave various answers to the question about who is at its centre, ranging from the Church to God to the Pope to the Bible.
Most candidates stated that the head of the Catholic Church is the Pope. “It seems that they failed to understand that Christ is the only head of the Church and that all ministry and authority is derived from Christ,” the report states.
According to the report a substantial number of students have a negative view of their own generation and are quite disapproving of the lifestyle of the majority.

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