During a debate on education, Mario Mallia, AD Spokesperson on Education said that AD was among the first to support the reforms in education launched four years ago. “This is because AD always believed that children and their needs should be given priority over exams which divide and exclude children. AD also supported the college system which brought together schools that before used to operate in isolation while giving the opportunity of educational continuity from primary to secondary.”

AD sad it “feels that following the work of the past few years, a general evaluation of the system is needed. Regarding the operation of the colleges, Mr Mallia said that it is evident that the colleges created a new form of bureaucracy which led to a greater separation between teachers in schools and at the centre. AD is also concerned about the fact that many of the schools being built are too big to be able to give individual attention to children. AD feels that school size makes a difference in the level of care and security given to children which is important for teaching to be effective.”

Regarding the National Curriculum which is being proposed, AD said that it “would like to comment at a further stage. At the same time it agrees with the broad process of consultation which is being carried out. However, AD feels that, in contrast, the new curricula in the first year of secondary schooling were thrust upon teachers without adequate consultation. AD feels that it was not wise for a curriculum which was approved last July to be given to teachers in state schools to be implemented at the beginning of this same academic year. AD feels that teachers deserve to be listened to much more so that both their professionalism and the spirit of the reforms are respected.”

AD also expressed its concern about the fact that “the benchmarking exercise at the end of Year 6 is being used to channel children into different tracks from a young age. It feels that in this way, the selection mentality with all its consequences that we criticized so much in the old system, will remain strong.”

The spokesperson also mentioned the need for the philosophy behind the Secondary School Certificate to be revised. “This is now linked with the National Qualifications Framework. AD feels that giving importance to informal and non-formal education is positive. At the same time it feels that the obsession with measuring everything in terms of marks is putting a number of children at a disadvantage. For example, educational activities are not being considered unless they are certified by whoever gives the service. Mr Mallia asked what will happen to those students who participate in activities organized by persons who are not registered with the Directorate. It is not fair that because of such a measure, students will suffer. AD feels that these difficulties and disadvantages would be overcome should this certificate take the form of an experience portfolio rather than an exercise in numerical calculations.”

On the issue of research in schools, AD said that it “feels that while it is positive that it has increased, it is still highly centralized and dictated by international surveys. More importantly, what emerges from these studies is not reaching individual schools so that they will be able to take action to improve the services they offer. This means that decisions will become even more centralized. AD feels the need for a research project to be launched to enable us to understand why boys are not doing as well as girls at school. This should be discussed within a wider context which recognises the need for Malta to have a national gender policy to address gender inequalities in education as well as of how we can educate our children better so that gender inequalities in society will decline. Linked with this aspect of justice, the AD spokesperson also reiterated the need for visible efforts for children of ethnic minorities to be better catered for. This entails more information, coordination and training so that education will be a true means of inclusion for these children.”

Finally, in reaction to what has been happening during the past months regarding children who were being taken to school early and left in front of the closed school gate, Mr Mallia urged for a committee to be set up to evaluate the situation on a national level and to present recommendations so that every sector, including the transport sector, will honour its responsibilities. “The steps that were taken improved the situation in the particular school linked to the case but they did nothing to ease the problem of children who are arriving at school very early with all the implied risks. The health and safety of our children should take precedence over all other considerations,” he said.

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