The Ministry of Education and the MATSEC board have given conflicting statements with regard to exploring new ways of teaching and assessing the Maltese language.

Speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday, University of Malta Professor of Maltese Olvin Vella said that while MATSEC had confirmed that Maltese as a foreign language would be open to all students, the Ministry dismissed such statements.

In a ministerial statement published this week in reaction to reports that Maltese would be taught to Maltese students as a foreign language, or that it would no longer be a university requirement, the Ministry confirmed that this was incorrect. 

The Education Ministry said this week that it would be launching a consultation exercise on new ways of teaching and assessing the Maltese language.

However, according to Prof. Arnold Cassola, the Head of the Maltese Language Department, MATSEC is proposing to change exams in Maltese by introducing a new exam – ‘Maltese as a foreign language’.

Vella argued that if Maltese students are able to take Maltese as a foreign language this would be a complete and utter betrayal: “If this is the case then it’s not true that we want a quality education. If education is about the number of students who pass without taking into account the quality of the exam and teaching,” he said.

“We need to decide as a country if we want to uphold our standards or celebrate because now ‘everyone is passing their exams’. This is all just political play and a perception that we are improving our education system but the system is just being measured by the number of passes”.

Vella emphasised that the Department of Maltese and other groups are completely in favour of foreign nationals taking Maltese as a foreign language and that meetings will be held between entities associated with the Department of Maltese at University and the Maltese Council. “It is important to be positive and here we have an opportunity to improve and strengthen the teaching of Maltese. We are not perfect and there is room for improvement but we need to improve the quality not just simply lower the levels. We complain that the standards at university are not high enough and now we are just going to lower the levels further” Vella countered.

It is said that Malta’s student population included Maltese nationals for whom Maltese is not their primary language, as well as foreigners. There are also a number of students with a vocational predisposition to speak Maltese but the academic exam is not suitable for them.

For this reason the ministry stated that it would be launching a consultation exercise with all stakeholders, including educators, students and the general public, so that the educational system starts offering different ways of teaching and assessing the Maltese language.

“In this way we will be ensuring that the Maltese language remains important and relevant to our children and youths, irrespective of what their primary language is.”

The ministry said Maltese was one of four languages in the EU that was in danger of being weakened in the digital age and one had the duty to spread and strengthen the language.

Preliminary meetings that will lead to the public consultation exercise will start in the coming days.