You might recall the flowery rhetoric about the Maltese language being recognised as one of the EU’s official languages. So what is our government doing to advance our language, now that we are EU members?

Let’s forget, for the time being, the lack of Maltese translators at the EU institutions, and focus on just one aspect: European Schools.

European Schools are primarily meant for the children of employees working in Brussels, Luxembourg and other places. But because of our government’s intransigence and lack of initiative, Maltese pupils in European Schools are suffering disadvantages.

The problem started in September last year, and it came to my attention during the Headmaster’s welcome address at the school in Brussels in which my three sons are enrolled (there are three European Schools in Brussels). “We even have three pupils from Malta,” said the headmaster, “but unfortunately we are unable to hold Maltese language classes because the Maltese government has not taken the necessary steps to send a Maltese teacher.”

Government starts waking up, then falters

Since then, other Maltese pupils have been enrolled and there are now 13 in Brussels alone. So, earlier this year the school authorities asked Maltese parents whether they would like their children to learn Maltese at school. This seems to have been welcomed by most, if not all, Maltese parents working in European institutions. It seemed as if our government had finally woken up. It is ready to send a Maltese teacher, even though this will not come about before September 2006.

But it is not all that simple.

Since there are not enough Maltese students to set up a Maltese section, Maltese pupils are enrolled in the English section. The English section suits Maltese children fine, of course, since in any case we have a parallel system in our schools with both Maltese and English. Moreover, there are other small, new member states without a section, such as Slovenia, Estonia and Latvia.

So as matters stand, for Maltese children attending a European School, “Language One” (L1 – the “mother tongue”) is English. “Language Two” (L2), therefore, is a choice between either French or German (no other option). The problem arises when at Form 3 level all students are expected to learn geography, history and social sciences in “Language Two” (L2). But for Maltese pupils L2 is, in actual fact, their third language, since Maltese is still their mother tongue and English is still a foreign language, no matter how early they start learning it. So a 12-year-old like my son, who started learning French only last year and has been taught very little, is expected to sit for some of his exams in French next year. (The fact that Maltese children interact mostly with English-speaking children in the English section does not help them learn much French, of course). Failure to pass these subjects means failure to complete the school curriculum. Even some English parents are complaining strongly, so one can imagine what it is like to be a Maltese pupil with yet another language layer.

The Slovenes, for example, have solved the problem. The Slovene language is recognised as their mother tongue, even though they are in the English section, and they will go through the Form 3 subjects in English (not French or German).

So how is our government dealing with this problem, you might ask, and how does it promote our language? Again, it seems our government is failing to do what it says. According to the authorities of the school my sons attend, the Education Ministry’s current proposal is for Maltese to be considered as “Language Three” (optional)!

I am also personally aware that the higher authorities of the European Schools themselves found this proposal “weird”, since they had never received a proposal for a mother tongue to be considered as a third language. Indeed, our government’s proposal is to place the Maltese language on a par with Gaelic (for the Irish students), which is a “protected language” (since for the Irish, English is actually their mother tongue).

The million-euro question

The first aspect to consider here is that most employees, political or functionaries, have not migrated from Malta, but are in Brussels temporarily. My family, for one, plans to return to Malta in a few years’ time and there will be many others returning. And unless the Maltese language is not totally obliterated from the Maltese school curricula, our children will be expected to re-integrate into our local school system.

But apart from that, Maltese children have the right for their mother tongue to be recognised in deed and not only with rhetoric. Malta is an EU member state and we should expect no discrimination or disadvantages in the system.

It is the Education Ministry, that is not only failing to solve this problem but is, in fact, aggravating it. With such an attitude towards our mother tongue, no wonder there are not enough Maltese interpreters in European institutions.

Who should I believe?

There is yet another twist. Contacted by a Maltese journalist only this week, the Permanent Secretary for Education denied that such a proposal had been made by the government and assured him that the Maltese proposal is that Maltese should be considered as the first language.

The question is, who is telling the truth? Is it the Permanent Secretary or the authorities at one of the European Schools? I have a written note telling me that, regrettably, Maltese will follow the Gaelic way – third language (optional), while the Permanent Secretary says it is not so. But is our Permanent Secretary really aware of what is going on? And who is actually deciding on our behalf?

I would expect Simon Busuttil (MEP, PN), whose children also attend this school, to defend the Maltese language and ensure that Maltese students are not discriminated against as a result of the actions taken by their own government.

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Sharon Ellul Bonici is a Labour Party candidate currently working in the European parliament in the political field.