The Partit Demokratiku said today it sees a widening gap between what the educational system is producing and the skills needed to fuel our economy.

With the European Parliament Elections coming in May, it is time we reflect on our progress in comparison with our European partners. Whilst our economic achievements are indeed amongst the best, when it comes to educational attainment, we lag way behind, PD said.

Education is the greatest investment in the future of our citizens and our country and improving it goes hand in hand with  improving their quality of life.

The following facts speak for themselves: 

• Malta’s spending on education is above the EU average, and yet its results are well 
below.

• The level of achievement in reading, mathematics and science amongst Maltese 15-year olds is well below that of the EU average.

• According to the recent Eurostat figures, Malta has the highest level of early school  leavers in the EU. It is almost 20% when the targeted rate for 2020 was 10%. 

• Less than half of State school students sat for nine O level SEC exams, whilst the rate for  Church schools was around three quarters and Private schools two thirds.

• Less than half of students achieve admission into sixth form. This rate has not improved  at all in the last five years after showing considerable improvement in the previous 10.  Why?

• The percentage of students who failed to get five pass grades in SEC exams has shown no mimprovement in the last two years despite the addition of vocational subjects. These  students are at huge risk of becoming the emarginated in our society stuck in a vice of  low-paid and precarious work.

• A statistical report issued by the MATSEC office shows that only around a third of the  children born in 2000 qualified for the Matriculation Certificate, which makes them 
eligible to continue their studies in university. 

• Our poor results in education are limiting the ability of all Maltese citizens to share in current economic growth and result in the importation of more foreign workers.

A recent European Commission report states that the government shows “…the lack of a  systematic identification of skill requirements to support the transition to a more sustainable economic development model.” It is no surprise when we hear this week that Malta was the only country in the EU where hourly labour costs decreased in the second half of 2018.

Partit Demokratiku made the following proposals:

1. Decentralise the education system giving teachers more autonomy in taking decisions regarding the well-being of their students. 

2. Instil a love for going to school by delaying formal education as is the model in Scandinavian countries, whilst keeping the compulsory age for starting attending  school as it is currently.

3. Provide schools with in-house psycho-social support to address student’s issues as an adjunct to the teacher’s work.

4. Improve teacher mentoring and ensure that those mentors are up to date with the latest teaching methods and practices.

5. Consider extending compulsory school age beyond the current sixteen years. 

6. Provide added financial incentives for education students to take up subjects that are of vital need to our economy such as the sciences and maths. This should also hold for other vital areas of study in the University and MCAST.

7. Further expand and incentivise vocational training in areas where there is an acute skills shortage in Malta, thereby guaranteeing non-academically minded children a decent career and income in the future.