A new strategy to help the education ministry address early leaving from education and training was recently launched, although details are scarce.

In today’s day and age, one cannot stress enough the importance of continuous training and a solid education.

As we can see in the country, there is no shortage of jobs. In fact, the opposite is true… there are so many jobs that we need to attract a large number of foreign workers as there just aren’t enough Maltese to fill positions. This newsroom has highlighted the issue with this economic model countless times, and it is not the focus of this editorial. Although one must state again just how urgent it is for the economic model to change given the overpopulation issues.

The focus of this editorial is education. If the country wants to change its economic model by, for instance, targeting sectors which yield more value added and higher wages, but are less human resource intensive, then it is likely that those sectors would require specialised skills.

In order to attain those skills, people would need education and training that go beyond the basic requirements.

According to Eurostat, in 2022 the percentage of early leavers from education and training in Malta stood at 10.1%, which was just slightly above the EU average of 9.6%. Eurostat defines the indicator ‘early leavers from education and training’ as the percentage of the population aged 18-24 with at most a lower secondary education and not in further (formal or non-formal) education or training during the four weeks preceding the survey.

The good news is that Malta’s percentage in this regard has been on the decline. And so the government setting up new strategies to tackle this issue is, of course, good.

But one must also highlight the importance of getting through to students. As pointed out by this newsroom in another editorial some weeks ago, O-level results left much to be desired. Could this be an issue with students being disinterested in certain subject? Could it be that teachers aren’t able to get through to part of the student body? Studies on this issue should be carried out.

We need to ensure that children are not only in school because they have to be, but that they understand the importance of learning before it would be too late. That way, they will hopefully opt to continue learning. Education is not just about learning subjects either. Its about developing critical thinking skills, understanding our history and literature which also helps enrich us as individuals, and as a society in general.

 Students need to feel challenged, engaged in learning. Learning must be enjoyable if students are to develop a passion for it, and this challenge is not one that solely falls on the teachers’ shoulders.

It is of course no easy task, and it is an issue which surely every single teacher on the planet struggles with.

The government is currently creating the National Education Strategy for 2024-2030, and perhaps here lies an opportunity. Education Minister Clifton Grima had said that it will be written up by all stakeholders in the education sector, including educators. This is important as educators are the people who know best what students in their class need. Perhaps the strategy could help focus on figuring out how to keep students more engaged and interested in continuing in education or training past compulsory education stage, to help further reduce the percentage of early leavers in education and training.

Education is not only about youths however, and we need to look to the future. When speaking to this newsroom a few months ago, PN MP Ivan J Bartolo had highlighted the Nationalist Party’s plan to attract ten new economic sectors. He had said that this would require reskilling and upskilling the current workforce. “How many people in Malta are trapped, who didn’t think about studying until it was too late and are stuck in jobs being paid €20,000, unable to take a year off to learn new skills? There are many clever people in Malta who are financially trapped and if the government invests in them, together with the private sector, we could create better project managers, business analysts so on and so forth.”

This also shows the importance of continuous education and training. If the government were to focus on attracting new sectors, then reskilling and upskilling might be required.