Unbeknown to some, summer may be a difficult time for students, and their loved ones. They may be standing at a crossroads in life, are considering a reparatory exam in September or even thinking of repeating a year altogether following undesired A level results. For these students, lecturer Tabone Adami offers them some advice based on his years of experience.

To sixth former, Tabone Adami is a well-known educator whose dedication and love of chemistry is exceptional. He recalled how, as a youth, he spent many years in a room on the roof carrying out chemical reactions, using materials he bought himself, enjoying the results and “just having fun, if one can call it fun”.

From his rooftop investigations, he remained fascinated by the science and, after obtaining degrees in chemistry and physics, he began his career in education, teaching environmental science and physics before moving on to his beloved chemistry.

Tabone Adami made his definitive mark on chemistry education in Malta in 2008, with his first formal, peer-reviewed publication of past-paper question answers, which replaced unofficial photocopy versions. Following its success with students, he carried on writing chemistry textbooks tailored for the Maltese syllabus.

When Tabone Adami was asked how he ended up writing the main chemistry textbooks in Malta, he replied, “Because I broke my leg”. In explanation, he said that it had been at the back of his mind for a while, but he could never find the time, so, “I was still on the floor with my broken leg, waiting to be carried to the ambulance. I was thinking to myself, if I broke my leg, I think I must write the model answers”.

Tabone Adami was then asked for his first-hand insight on the pressure students are under when studying A Level chemistry. He said: “The pressures are big, especially for those who want to go to medicine because they've got to get themselves a B, but not only.” He elaborated that even other courses have strict result requirements from healthcare to science degrees and said that, “It's not just about passing your chemistry and your biology, to tell you the truth, but you need to get a reasonably good grade.”

Tabone Adami said that he would hear of people saying that they “failed” in chemistry when, in actual fact, they got an undesired mark such as a C, “[which] is as good as an A”. With regards to other university courses he pointed out, “If you're going to be a lawyer and you get a C in English or in Maltese or whatever other requirement is, it's okay”. He added, “So what is perfectly okay for a lawyer is considered a ‘fail’ if you want to get to medicine”.

Using the Medicine and Surgery course as an example, Tabone Adami said: “So these people have either an A or a B or a fail, essentially, and it puts a lot, a lot of pressure.” He said that while some students think nothing of it, “brush it off” and repeat, “for the majority, it's a big, big deal” and that “every year you find people crying their eyes out because they got themselves a C”.

From the teachers’ perspective, Tabone Adami said that “it's the story of an academic year where lots of people come out happy and some don't. It's easy for us to say, okay, don't worry, they'll pick up and do something else”. That said, he stressed the importance of empathy, since “it's not easy for the student and we shouldn't diminish the terror which goes through them when they receive their results, be they first-year results, A-level results, even university results”.

Difficult decisions

Tabone Adami went on to sketch the difficult decisions the students must face because they've missed by one grade, and reiterated the pressure on students, “at a period of time in their life when they are very vulnerable, when they should also be doing other things rather than sitting at home for months on end studying their chemistry, biology and the other intermediates”.

With regards to the pressure on teachers, due to the blaming of the teachers for the marks of students, Tabone Adami said “you feel that you've got to do something for each and every one [especially] when you find people who are not getting engaged or are falling behind”. He added: “That person is an individual and come the results they may be broken, and may be broken again for a second time,” in the context of those who resit for an exam or have repeated a year.

Tabone Adami said, however, that the student-teacher relationship is a “two-way process” and drew the analogy of a drawbridge. He said: “It's got two sides and they both have to be down. So, I've got to do my work, and the other person, the student, also needs to do their work. If one of us is not doing our work, you're not going to pass” and, consequently “you're not going to move on to the next stage of your life. But also, there are times when you say to yourself, ‘this person isn't that interested’ and for some reason you haven't managed to engage. I can't do much about it”.

Tabone Adami said that, as a teacher, “there are things one can do and things one must do in all conscience”. He added that, “talking to people, even in the corridor, is always important and trying to make out what it is which makes them tick and what issues they're finding”.

When talking to distressed students, Tabone Adami cautioned that, “sometimes you don't want to go too deep into their personal issues, but things come up”. Regarding the student issues he encountered in his experience he said, “there are things you can help with and other things you've got to report and move them on to more specialised help”. Ultimately, he said, “as science teachers, we learn how to teach science but we're not professionally taught on how to deal with cases of fragile students”.

When questioned further on “fragile students”, Tabone Adami said there are those who, “crumble because of their social environment and so on, so you've got to pass these things on immediately to someone who understands these matters”. He said that a “significant minority” should seek professional help by way of counsellors or psychologists which “should be a matter of fact” without any shame or stigma.

On top of the pressure students face in getting their desired marks, Tabone Adami pointed out the added stress some face just to reach the second year of sixth form. He said that, particularly in the past, it was a “hurdle” and, should they not succeed, it would mean they would be kicked out after one year of sixth form.

Maintaining ‘standards’

When questioned about the reasoning behind “promotion” to second year of sixth form, Tabone Adami said that the idea is “to maintain a standard, within inverted commas. You want to have a high standard and some sixth forms are guiltier than others for that”. His view on the concept is that “in general, from social to academic, it is counterproductive” and added “no matter the selection process, once they're there, you've got to do your best for them, even if the outcome looks poor”.

“This is no small matter,” Tabone Adami, said, and explained that kicking students out of sixth form due to poor grades is devastating socially, “especially because these are still kids who have a group of friends, some of whom they've come up through secondary school, and others they've just made new friends with in sixth form. To be thrown out after first year is hard because you lose all those connections”. He elaborated that these connections and friendships would serve you well your whole life and, talking from personal experience, he said, “most of us have been to sixth form. We remember those days and are still in contact, probably close contact, with friends we made at the time. They could be your wife, your husband and your social circle, many times, has its roots there. So, pulling a person out of first year is hard for them, sometimes it may destroy them.”

Thankfully, the matter of expulsion from sixth forms, due to grades, is in hand, Tabone Adami said. “Where I teach, the Junior College, it is now quite difficult for someone to be sent out after first year.” He did note, on the other hand, that some students now won't pay so much attention to the work done in first year because they know that it's quite easy to make it to the second year.

In light of this potential catch-22, Tabone Adami said: “I would rather keep students in education than send them out, even the weak ones” with his reason being, “[the weakest students will] manage to get something out of it even if it's a pass at the lowest grade, an E. An E will allow you to do something at university and flourish there. Even though you have an E in your chemistry, for example, you may find your life.”

“So cutting these people out and sending them away, out of school after first year, because ‘anyway they're not going to pass’, it doesn't really make much sense. Maybe they won't, it's true, but many of them will eventually scrape through, get something and find their role. It's a disservice to them, not only socially, but also educationally.”

Looking at post-secondary education in the bigger picture, especially, in view of the recent EU study showing that despite high public expenditure on education, Malta has the least educated population, Tabone Adami said “exceptionalism is one of our problems. We think that we can solve things in different ways because we are Maltese, because it's different. No, we are just like everywhere else”.

“Are we really very different from other countries? Doesn't every country have an education system which, is not exactly like ours but similar to ours, aims to make professional academics, aims to make people who are, you know, rounded educationally.” He said that to move forward, “we need to look to the ones who are ahead of us and take ideas from them. I think it is what most serious educators do. You look at people who are better than you and try to push from there”.

Following the outlining of such delicate and life-changing issues, Tabone Adami’s advice to students is sober thought and not to take decisions on the spot during a “terrifying time”. “They've got to stop and think and get all the help they can get. And often the help doesn't come from their science teacher, although we can help to some extent, but the help is a more profound one, a more complete one, not just looking at the subject,” he said.

As for students considering repeating a year, he said, “it's only one year. You're going to have, probably 60 years working. By the time they get there, they'll be pensionable by 70 plus. I mean, one year less because you got to do an exam again. So what?”

Tabone Adami’s take-home message to students currently at a crossroads was as follows. “Number one, get the help. Number two, don't give up if you decide to do something new. Know that your career is going to be a long one, the number of years you're going to be working is longer than any other generation in history, one year here or there is nothing compared to the long career you're going to have ahead. It requires time. Find your way.

Student accounts

The Malta Independent on Sunday reached out to two students, nearing the end of Medical School, who had initially gotten stuck in their A levels, to hear the experience first-hand from their perspective.

Student 1

“When I didn’t get my A levels up to the standard required for medicine, it felt like my identity was falling apart. You go from this high achieving student, to feeling like a failure. I would tell people I failed when, in actual fact, I hadn’t failed the exams, I just didn’t get the chemistry mark I needed. But you feel like a failure because your identity is threatened.

My self-value depended on my grades, and so, my self-confidence took a massive hit. In the beginning it was hard to accept and I was overwhelmed with lot of emotions. I decided to repeat the year, and in that year the pandemic broke out so there was the question of whether we’d even sit for these exams again.

I reflected a lot on myself in my gap year. I realised my mentality was flawed and my worth was more than just an exam mark. I look back on that year and I can wholeheartedly say it was the best year of my life. I used to think that was a cliché but there is a lot one can learn from life experiences.

I wouldn’t change a single thing if I was given the opportunity. That year matured me and taught me valuable life lessons that bettered me as a person. So, to anyone who doesn’t get their required grades, please do not give up, it is not easy, but you will grow and you develop skills which will better you in your profession. Everything is temporary and your pain will pass too! And don’t let anything stop you from achieving your dreams!”

Student 2

“It’s the summer of 2019 and I am eagerly waiting for my A level results. The anticipation rapidly turns to heartbreak as I realise that I will not be able to enter medical school that following year.

The A level exams were always harped on to be one of the most important, if not the most important exams in one’s life, making it seem like the ultimate gateway to a successful future. I felt like a failure, to my teachers, to my parents, to my friends who managed to achieve their desired results, but most of all to myself. For me, entering another course was never an option and the only way forward was to repeat my exams the following year.

Thankfully, I did secure a spot with the following year’s medical students. If this experience has taught me anything, it would be that failure does not define us; it drives us forward. It pushes us to grow, to adapt, and to strive harder for our goals.

To anyone in a similar position, remember that setbacks are just setups for comebacks. Your worth is not determined by a single set of results, and although the journey may be tough, each step forward brings you closer to your dreams.”