If Ms Marisa Micallef “knows nothing about languages”, as Mr Charles Camilleri wrote in The Maltese Language (TMID, 14 September), then Mr Camilleri knows very little about the Maltese Matsec Examination to which her article referred.

Nobody is disputing the fact that the Maltese language must be taught and learnt properly (including translation skills). However, to include a vast literature syllabus in this compulsory exam is not fair. Keep Maltese literature as a separate school subject, by all means, as it is with English literature.

But do not make a pass in the Maltese literature exam one of the entry requirements for all sixth form and university students (except those taking Maltese as their main subject, of course). After all, the whole point of having entry requirements is to ensure that students possess the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to follow their respective courses with success, and language skills are certainly a top-of-the-list priority.

V. Galea Debono

St Andrews