The same students were interviewed again last year and the figures had fallen to 4.5 per cent for the Maltese language and 8.5 per cent for English.
Education Minister Louis Galea said this encouraging result was an example of how well-planned measures can be effective and yield positive results. He was speaking during a visit to the Senglea Family Festival, one of the educational activities organised by Senglea local council in collaboration with the Foundation for Educational Services.
This is the second year in which the foundation is assisting Senglea council with the organisation of these activities, which include a bi-weekly literacy programme and an outdoor educational programme near the Senglea waterfront. All the activities are run by a 16-strong team.
This year there were more participants, with a total of 130 adults and 140 children. There are programmes for children, based on the scholastic syllabus, and separate programmes for parents. There are also individual sessions for those students who are more at risk than others.
Dr Galea emphasised the need to ensure that everyone attains the basic needs that are necessary to be able to participate fully in today’s society. The government has recognised the importance of this fact and is working to link the National Employment Strategy, currently being discussed, the National Social Inclusion Plan, the Life-Long-Learning Strategy and the National Basic Needs Strategy.
The ministry will be placing more focus on the Cottonera area in order to reduce the levels of absenteeism, and improve the results achieved by students from these areas and the number of students from these areas who continue their studies at university, compared to students from other areas.
He pointed out that there was a good participation of Cottonera students at the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). He added that there are special programmes in these colleges for students who have not attained the basic educational skills.
The government is at present refurbishing four primary schools that accommodate 838 students and three secondary schools which are attended by a total of 1,376 students. In the last five years the government has invested nearly Lm1 million in these schools and is planning to invest a further Lm4 million to continue improving them.
The educational sector, Dr Galea said, is continuously changing and the importance of the family’s participation in the process of education is being felt more that before. “Both studies and experience have shown that when the family, the school and the student work hand in hand, better results are achieved.
“The government will do anything it can to help the families of this region to get on their feet so that they will be the protagonists of the regeneration of this jewel,” Dr Galea concluded.