“We need to make more funds available to ensure that dyslexic students have adequate resources to advance in their education and to incentivise more teachers and LSEs to pursue a career to assist dyslexic students. The European Dyslexia Charter I am pushing together with other MEPs at the European Parliament also emphasises this.”  MEP Francis Zammit Dimech made these remarks after meeting the team of the Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) Service, which strives to provide appropriate support for individuals with dyslexia at the different stages of their education.

Zammit Dimech is currently working on a European Dyslexia Charter to raise more awareness on challenges faced by individuals with dyslexia. The Charter deals with various aspects including employment, health and education. Over the past weeks, Zammit Dimech has held several meetings including with the Malta Dyslexia Association and several parents of students with dyslexia.  The setup of the European Dyslexia Charter was welcomed by the SpLD team and described as a positive step and a worthwhile initiative.

During the visit to SpLD Service, Dr. Christine Firman gave an overview of the work currently being carried out by the SpLD team and discussed the concerns of parents. Dr. Firman explained how SpLD Service is working to develop further awareness on dyslexia with educators, parents, students and society in general.  Though several initiatives have taken place over the past years, there is still much more to be done in order to improve the opportunities for individuals with dyslexia. Emphasis was made on the need to increase funding to train educators to further extend their skills to support students with dyslexia more effectively.

Considering that it is estimated that 10 % of the school population experiences dyslexia, more specialised teachers are required to meet the demands. At this point in time, SpLD Service has a total of 19 specialised teachers to provide the support requested.

It was also acknowledged that since the needs of students with dyslexia vary, considerably different intervention programmes are required. Furthermore, more monitoring is needed to ensure that students with dyslexia are making the expected progress. In addition, students need support throughout the scholastic year and not only during examination sessions.

Zammit Dimech, who is a member of the Committee on Education, recalled how several challenges outlined by the SpLD team were very pertinent and in fact highlighted in the Charter. In particular, the Charter discusses the need to provide more training on dyslexia for teachers. The Charter also refers to classroom interventions and how teaching assistants can be of huge benefit to students with dyslexia. In this regard, the sooner the support is put in place, the better. Zammit Dimech said that early support for students will not only have a long-term positive impact on their life, but will also avoid school failure.

Zammit Dimech thanked the entire team for their dedication. He promised to include their feedback in the Charter and said that in the next weeks he will be taking further initiatives to raise the challenges outlined by SpLD Service, teachers and parents. He also encouraged stakeholders from Malta and Gozo to give their feedback on the European Dyslexia Charter, which he will further push on a European level.