In 2006, no less than 32.2% of schoolage children left their education and training before they completed their schooling.
In other words, they were classed as ‘early leavers’ or, to be more precise ‘the percentage of the population aged 18-24 with at most lower secondary education and who are currently not in further education or training’
By 2013, this percentage had decreased to 20.5%, and by last year to 20.4%. This is an achievement but it is far from being enough. The EU 2020 headline target for Malta is 10%.
As it is, according to a set of statistics published by Eurostat this week, Malta is the second worst country in the EU for early school leavers, surpassed only by Spain, which has record high youth unemployment.
In 2014, the lowest proportions of early school leavers were observed in Croatia (2.7%), Slovenia (4.4%), Poland (5.4%), the Czech Republic (5.5%) and Lithuania (5.9%), while shares of at least 15% were recorded in Spain (21.9%), Malta (20.4%), Romania (18.1%), Portugal (17.4%) and Italy (15.0%).
Fifteen Member States have already fulfilled their 2020 national targets for this indicator: the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Greece, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia and Sweden.
The figures for early school leaving for Malta also show a marked difference between the rates for males and for females. In 2014, 22.3% of males in that age group had left school compared to 18.3% of females.
This is not the only metric that puts Malta in a bad light. Another set of figures that show the proportion of people aged 30 to 34 as having successfully completed tertiary education shows Malta as the third worst country in the EU, surpassed only by Italy and Romania.
In 2014, more than half of the population aged 30 to 34 had completed tertiary education in Lithuania (53.3%), Luxembourg (52.7%), Cyprus (52.5%) and Ireland (52.2%).
At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest proportions were observed in Italy (23.9%), Romania (25.0%), Malta (26.6%), Slovakia (26.9%) and the Czech Republic (28.2%).
Twelve Member States have already met or exceeded their 2020 national targets for this indicator: Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden.
In 2002, only 9.3% of people in that age group had successfully completed tertiary education. The proportion rose to 26% by 2013 and to 26.6% in 2014. The headline Europe 2020 target for Malta is 33%. Once again, females have registered better educational attainment than males: 30.5% for women as against 22% for males.
Europe 2020is the European Union’s ten-year jobs and growth strategy. It was launched in 2010 to create the conditions for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Among its headline targets, two are related to education to monitor access to the labour market and employability: increasing the proportion of persons having completed tertiary education2 and reducing the share of early leavers from education and training3.
The share of persons aged 30 to 34 in the EU who have completed tertiary education has constantly increased, from 23.6% in 2002 when the series started to 37.9% in 2014.
This pattern was even more significant for women (from 24.5% in 2002 to 42.3% in 2014) than men (from 22.6% to 33.6%).
The Europe 2020 strategy’s target is that at least 40% of 30-34-year-olds in the EU should have completed tertiary education by 2020.
In addition, the share of early school leavers has steadily decreased in the EU, from 17.0% in 2002 to 11.1% in 2014. Women are less affected by early leaving from education and training than men.
The Europe 2020 target is to reduce the rates of early school leaving in the EU to below 10% by 2020.