The answers given by university students to simple current affairs questions put by another newspaper should not only embarrass the students who said them, but also the education authorities. At a time when we are talking about a reform in the way students are promoted from primary to secondary schooling and at the same time planning a new strategy for tertiary education, we should also review the fundamentals of a system which does not seem to be working properly.
University students are supposed to be the cream of the crop in terms of intelligence and involvement, but judging by the way some of the students replied to a few questions, it is clear that something is going awfully wrong.
To have a university student say that Lawrence Gonzi is to be the next President of the Republic, another student – studying communications – saying that Gaza is a country and having only two out of 10 students who know who Renzo Piano is makes one wonder what kind of students is the local education system producing.
It is evident that whereas, academically speaking, our students are being prepared well, their interest seems to be focalised only on the subjects they are studying or the course they are following. At a lower level, that is in primary and secondary schooling, the focus seems to be on the fact that one plus one make two and that the word “then” has a different meaning to the word “than”, and there is little attention (and perhaps no time) to give them a background in general knowledge.
At University level, the concentration is totally on the course, and how to enjoy the weekend.
Of course, the exercise carried out is in no way representative of the student population, but at the same time one does expect all university students to know the answers to these simple questions. They were not asked to name the President of Azerbaijan – with all due respect to this country. The excuse that they are too much involved in their studies does not hold water. In spite of their long hours of studying, they should still take an interest in what is going on, both in Malta and abroad.
Malta seems to be producing students who are capable in passing the examinations they prepare to sit for, but then are not conversant with all the other aspects of knowledge. When asked for an opinion, sometimes they do not have one and, if they do, they are unable to express it or unable to do so coherently.
What is incomprehensible is that in the same newspaper report, the head of the University’s Department of Youth and Community Services, Marilyn Clark, justified the students’ lack of interest and apathy by blaming adults.
Yes, adults, and more so education authorities, should instill a sense of interest in students at primary level, but the older students, those in secondary schools and especially at university, are old enough to understand that they should take an interest in current affairs.
It should not be adults who spur them into following the news or reading newspapers. It should come from the students themselves to realise that studying, important as it is, is not everything.
Yet, it seems that Maltese university students are only interested in their own affairs, and speak up only when something that concerns them is not to their liking, such as when they held their protest rally because the lack of agreement between the University and its academic staff was threatening the holding of their mid-term examinations.
The education authorities are presently working on reforms that are aimed to reduce the pressure on students and at the same time improve the overall situation. The authorities would do well to look into this “embarrassing” matter too.