Just around five months ago, together with the 350 members of the Committee of the Regions, we welcomed the European Commission’s initiative to designate 2009 as the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. Europe’s creative potential is the key to meeting the Lisbon objectives and thus to becoming the world’s most innovative, knowledge-based economy.

The opinion drawn up by Gerd Harms (DE/PES), Plenipotentiary of the Land of Brandenburg for federal and European affairs and state secretary in the Brandenburg state chancellery gathered support for all the members from the sphere of local politics across the 27 member states.

As members of the Committee of the Regions, we highlighted the particular importance of early, pre-school learning and primary education for the development of basic competences, i.e. the knowledge, skills and attitudes that equip people to live and work in modern European society, and to acquire additional knowledge.

Needless to say this is of utmost importance, especially in the wake of our new statistical data reflecting our student’s performance at local level. And yes, I am, we are concerned of what is happening at local level, as highlighted during our national councillors congress organised by the Local Councils Association at the end of October. This is like somebody seeing a glass saying it is half empty and somebody else who considers it half full.

Statistics are there to be analysed and interpreted, and it emerges that half of our students at primary level are failing the system. Unfortunately to say, but it is reality, the South East fares the worst. From Cottonera, almost 70 per cent did not make it, 54 per cent of Kalkara students failed, in Vittoriosa there were 81 per cent failures, and from Cospicua everybody failed. The same is happening in Xghajra where 89 per cent failed. In Qrendi and Floriana, 74 per cent and 72 per cent failed respectively.

So the question comes naturally – How do we have a situation where half of the students obtain a good performance and pass their exams, while half of them fall behind and do not make it? Something, somewhere is not functioning well. What is also worrying is also another result of a study published lately and which shows that almost 10 per cent of our students at primary level from the South East Region are suffering from social, emotional and behaviour problems.

The Smart Island should mature, because it is irrelevant to speak about politics of blue and red and green ideology without reflecting on what actually needs to be done in order to tackle the problems from the roots. During the past 15 years we have experienced hands-on training and educational activities by different local councils. Training mostly for free or in other instances heavily subsidised.

Attending for the classes we find students both from the primary and secondary level. We also find parents and elderly attending such initiatives. However, somewhere we are unfortunately failing. And this is why I sustain that if we want to be a truly smart island just about to align with our European counterpart countries to celebrate the European Year for Innovation and Creativity we have to first put our house in order first.

Parents are an important resource in helping out to achieve the best, not only in the context of next year’s celebrations, but also during the course of our local and national development. The family is our first institution, giving us our formal education, and that is why I appeal to parents as I have already done during a public seminar organised by Santa Teresa College to come forward and be part of the reform for local government which is in it’s final stages. We need parents as much as we need other stakeholders to voice their ideas, their vision for the future generation, because our present generation has also the potential to make from Malta a truly smart island.

European cities and regions and at local level, culture, creativity and innovation are the key sources of growth, investment and new jobs. As members of the Committee of the Regions back in June 2008, we noted and highlighted the absence of any specific funding from the EU for the Year of Creativity and Innovation. If creativity is seen as a vital ingredient of European social development, it should not be restricted to the fields of education and culture alone. Interdisciplinary thought engenders new and creative solutions.



Claudette Abela Baldacchino is a Member of the Committee of the Regions – EU and a prospective candidate for European Parliament Elections.



claudette.baldacchino @gmail.com