Micheline Sciberras and Grace Grima have been appointed the first directors general of the two directorates in the new education system. After a recent change in the education law the directorates replaced the Education Division established in 1993.
Ms Sciberras is to lead the educational services directorate while Dr Grima is to lead the quality and educational standards directorate. The two directors general were introduced to the media yesterday by Education, Youth, and Employment Minister Louis Galea.
Ms Sciberras graduated in education in 1991 and acquired her Master’s Degree in Education (Guidance and Counselling) from the University of Durham, UK, in 1996.
She has worked in the Education sector for the past 16 years as teacher of English, guidance teacher, officer coordinating services in schools for survivors of child abuse, counsellor and in the past few years has actively worked in the area of policy development in the field of education.
Dr Grima graduated from the University of Malta in 1990 with a first class B.Ed (Hons) degree and worked as a teacher in a range of local secondary schools. She completed her post-graduate studies in New Zealand after twice being awarded a Commonwealth scholarship.
She was also Principal Research and Development Officer at MATSEC for the past seven years. She has also co-authored a number of books on assessment, including Group Assessment (2000), Portfolio Assessment (2001) and Transition from Primary to Secondary in Malta: Time to break the Mould? (2006)
Dr Galea explained that the government reinforced the national authority on education by setting up this new law of two directorates as part of the educational reform system. The educational services directorate has the responsibility to ensure the necessary resources and services for students and teachers at the colleges and state schools, as well as to collaborate with church and independent schools.
The Foundation for Tomorrow’s schools (FTS) and the Foundation for Educational Services (FES) fall under the responsibility of this directorate.
The Quality and Educational standards directorate has the responsibility to establish the standards and monitor the educational quality and services in all state, Church and Independent schools. This directorate will have two departments, one for the curriculum and e-learning, and the other for quality educational assurance. The directorate will operate through Educational officers and an Educational Inspectorate.
A permanent education committee has been established by law to coordinate the work of these two directorates.