The MATSEC examination board has launched a consultation process on a reform that it intends to implement as from 2020.

One of the most controversial changes that have been proposed is the idea to have post-secondary students studying one of four foreign languages at either A-level, intermediary or a new proficiency level which will focus on reading, writing, listening and speaking. The languages are Italian, German, French and Spanish. Perhaps, given the way things are developing, Mandarin should be another option.

While students will be happy to see plans for an overhaul in the Systems of Knowledge course to reflect today’s exigencies better, they will not be too keen on having to forcibly take on a language when it might not be a priority for them in their preparation for university, MCAST, ITS or their first job.

The proposal reminded many of the way Arabic was made a compulsory subject – together with physics – for secondary school students in the 1980s. The reasons for that decision were purely political, as at the time Prime Minister Dom Mintoff wanted to forge better relations with Gaddafi’s Libya.

MATSEC’s idea to make it compulsory for sixth form students studying a foreign language is not political, as the real reason is for our youngsters to widen their horizons and consolidate their European identity. But, still, the idea to “force” them to study a language is probably not the right way of doing it to a generation that is, by nature, rebellious.

It is good that young people have a grasp of foreign language, other than Maltese and English. Today, travelling has become as easy as taking a stroll on a promenade and therefore any knowledge of a language that could help in communicating with others is a benefit.

Over the years languages have been given less and less importance at secondary school level, as other more modern subjects have taken their place. There was a time when students learnt four to five languages in secondary schools (including Maltese and English), but more recently only one foreign language was included in the curriculum.

The drive to have students, at sixth form level, to maintain their studies in this foreign language is, on the one hand, commendable but, on the other hand, it may impinge on the students’ own priorities.

This is particularly so if students have no intention to proceed on careers where languages are needed. They may find it a waste of time to have to get passes in a foreign language when they believe they could be using that same amount of time to study a subject that is more pertinent to their future plans.

Some students may also have an innate dislike to languages and being constrained to study one may put them off. It must also be pointed out that compulsory education, by law, finishes at secondary level and so making it obligatory to study a foreign language at sixth form level goes against the order of things.

Perhaps it would have been better for MATSEC, rather than propose to impose a foreign language, make sure that students get a better grasp of Maltese and English. Seeing the way so many people speak and write – and the social media today gives ample examples of this – should not make the education system proud.