Hundreds of young people have graduated from the university and MCAST in the last few days. The numbers keep growing year after year, and it is good to note that today the opportunities for our youngsters are countless. When I was their age, university courses were few and did not even open every year, and my late schooling years coincided with the huge battle the Labour Party mounted against Church schools and the teacher’s nine-week strike.

Nowadays it seems that everyone can get a degree – the young and the not so young, although in the latter case the university makes some inexplicable distinctions between those who are accepted for a course and those who are not. Still, it must be admitted that today anyone who wants to study is spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding on a career. Good luck to them.

We have had graduation ceremonies that have spanned a few weeks and daily celebrations by students who seemed to be in competition with each other as to which group, or which faculty, could make the most noise in the streets. After years of sacrifice and studying, there’s nothing wrong with that.

But not everything is rosy.

Recently, I came across the notice that is reproduced alongside this article, and I was literally shocked. Those of you who can read and write in Maltese will understand what I mean. In those few lines, there are numerous errors in both grammar and spelling, and one of the four words written in English is spelt wrongly, too.

This notice was written by a university student, and presumably checked by others before it was made public. It is horrifying to think that the person who wrote it – and the others who saw it – managed to get into university with such poor skills in our national language. What is even worse is that they will soon be graduating.

Is the university happy that it is dishing out certificates of graduation to people who cannot write a simple sentence in Maltese? Are the education authorities pleased that the students about whom they boast so much cannot string together a few words? Is this what we are producing today? Are we just content with the numbers but not with the quality? Does the Kunsill tal-Malti have anything to say about this?

The problem, of course, lies before university level is reached. It lies in our primary and secondary schooling systems. It lies in the fact that many teachers themselves do not know the basics of our language – and of English too, for that matter – and so are not in a position to correct any mistakes they come across.

My hope is that teachers who teach Maltese and English know their job, but apparently it is not enough. The more time that passes, the more the situation will worsen, because more people with a poor grasp of languages will be teaching tomorrow’s young people.

I just wonder how students with such a low level of Maltese and English make it to university when, as far as I know, both subjects are compulsory to qualify for post-secondary education.

More than this, university students have to write a thesis to receive their degree. I cannot imagine anyone with no basic skills in Maltese and English at the end of Sixth Form making up for lost ground at university, so my conclusion is that the theses that are presented are not written well, and I am being kind when I write this. But the degree is still handed out. So my question is: does the university ignore basic writing skills when theses are being graded?

Some might argue that a knowledge of Maltese and English is not important for courses unrelated to languages. Does this mean that we are happy to have doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects and so many other professional people graduating without being able to write a sentence correctly?

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I have interviewed people who have graduated from the communications course and wanted a job as a journalist – and they did not know the difference between “where” and “were” or “then” and “than”. How could they expect a job with a publishing company? Yes, we’ve had our blunders in our newspapers and now on the news portal, and although it’s never justified, it’s mostly down to the rush we’re in to meet our deadlines.

The social media and new technology have not helped. But it’s one thing writing a message on Facebook or sending an SMS, and it’s a completely different story when one is writing other things, including official documents, letters and a notice to other students like the one on this page.

There is another side to the story, and that is the interests our students’ organisations have. In my time, students fought for their right to be educated. Today, judging by the notice issued by SDM, the students are mostly concerned about the canteen and the games room: what they will eat and what games they will play. They will only rise up in arms if someone suggests that their stipends should be reduced or removed.

Some will say that this is fair enough. It means that students have no major worries. But on the other hand, it also shows the selfishness that exists in today’s younger generation, and the lack of interest they have in what is happening around them. When some kind of discussion is organised on any subject, very few of them turn up. When there is some kind of activity that needs some thought or some kind of sacrifice, attendance is even lower.

The government places emphasis on the education system, and it is good to note that facilities are improving and more courses are being offered. But it would all be in vain if we lose our language in the process.

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