An evaluation of all MATSEC results over a period of a number of years will be carried out during the upcoming scholastic year in a bid to address the enduring issue of high failure rates in MATSEC core subjects seen again this year.
MATSEC O-Level, A-Level and Intermediate exam results published earlier this month show that hundreds of students have yet again failed their Maltese, English and maths exams.
In replies to questions made by The Malta Independent, Education Minister Justyne Caruana said that this year’s examination grades cannot be attributed to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic on the education sector, since “there is no difference between this year’s results and those from 2019.”
Thus, even though the MATSEC curriculum, in light of online schooling over the past two years is being revised, this newfound analysis of student grades, will enable “appropriate measures to address where our students are doing well and were they are not doing so well,” she said.
Figures show that this year, 17% of students who sat for Maltese, 18% who sat for Maths and 14% who sat for an English language exam only managed to obtain a ‘U’ grade.
Students who sit for their O-Level and do not obtain a grade between 1 and 7, receive a failing ‘U’ grade, meaning that their result is considered unclassified.
Since May exams had to be suspended last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, students were awarded a predicted result based on their Mock exam results. Therefore, those grades could not be compared to this year’s.
However, when looking at 2019 and comparing those results to 2021, figures show that results were very similar. 19% of students who sat for their Maltese exam, 17% who sat for Maths and 12% who sat for English obtained a ‘U’ grade.
The MATSEC examiners’ report also shows that not many students managed to achieve high grades.
A total of 642 out of 3,706 students who sat for their Maltese exam, failed. This was also the case with 762 of the 4,162 students who did their maths exam. Meanwhile, 575 students of the 4,086 who did their English language exam failed as well.
Core subjects are compulsory and taught to students throughout mandatory schooling years at both primary and secondary levels. They are needed for students to move to post-secondary education. Some institutions only accept students who present Grade 1-5 results in their core subjects as well as in subjects they wish to continue studying.
Details of student performance are expected to be published later this year after the supplementary sessions are held next month.