An EU Survey entitled The Education and Training Monitor 2015 puts the spotlight on education priorities most in need of public and private investment, and identifies tangible policy levers that could help improve the inclusiveness, quality and relevance of Europe's education and training systems.

The Education Ministry said that Malta has invested significantly in its education and training system in recent years. Transition from education to the labour market is easier than in most other EU countries. "Significantly, Malta has surpassed the EU target of the rate of attendance of 4-year-olds at early childhood settings prior to the onset of compulsory education. In fact, the rate of kindergarten attendance of children aged between 4 and 5 years has reached 100%."

Source: DG Education and Culture calculations based on data from Eurostat (LFS 2014 and UOE 2013) and OECD (PISA 2012) Notes: 12= 2012, 13= 2013.

The Survey showed that the rate of adults between the ages of 30 and 34 who have obtained a qualification at tertiary level or equivalent is also showing improvement, "even though one would have hoped that this rate would have increased more rapidly. Similarly, the rate of adults older than 24 who are following lifelong learning courses is all the time increasing," the Ministry said.

The Education Ministry said that the European Commission has drawn the attention of Maltese education authorities to a number of bottlenecks of the education and training system, among them that, despite recent progress, the early school-leaving rate remains high, and that basic skills proficiency is poor in international comparison.

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