The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) has hit out at the proposed MATSEC reforms, stating that the consultation document lacked enough information, and that there was a lack of consultation before the document was released.

The MATSEC examination board had launched the public consultation for the post-secondary Matriculation programme reform.

The Matriculation Certificate course is a post-secondary two-year programme aimed at preparing students for entry to university. MATSEC is responsible for the provision and the quality of the Matriculation Certificate that is designed to prepare students for their future.

The MUT said that it was going to react directly to MATSEC, but issued some points it wished to draw attention to.

The MUT took umbrage at the fact that the consultation document was issued just a week before the scholastic year ended, and said that all parties got to know about the reform through the media, stating that serious reforms should not be handled in this way.

Regarding the content of the reform, the MUT argued that there is no mechanism as to how continuous assessment at post-secondary level will work, and that it is not reflective of the syllabi at post-secondary level. They also said that Maltese and English as languages were completely ignored.

As for Systems of Knowledge, the MUT said that the educators do not know how their job will change as a result, given the drastic proposed changes to the subject, adding that there are also concerns regarding foreign language subjects as the choices and pre-requisites for students for tertiary education level will change.

The MUT did say, however, that it agrees that foreign languages need to be a requirement for students to enter post-secondary level education.

The MUT also said that it is concerned as to how MATSEC will be determining what will be happening in the education institutions in the post-secondary sector when the change needs to come from the sector and MATSEC respond as a service provider.

“There is also concern as to how we have again gone for the old system where exams need to occur all at the same time. While the EU is increasing accessibility to learning so that one would have the necessary qualifications for today’s world, in Malta we have a situation where we are seeing what we can invent in order to make life more difficult for educators and students. This is unacceptable, especially if you end up keeping students away from education due to arbitrary regulations.”

The MUT said that the reform will also change work conditions for educators in post-secondary education institutions.