A report by the European Commission’s education and training monitor showed both positive improvements in Malta, but also some issues which need to be worked on.

Firstly, it said that Malta has made steady progress in increasing participation across all education levels and reducing early school leaving. This is an important step. In today’s world, having a solid educational foundation is a must. With the ever-increasing use of technology, and its constant evolution, education helps enlighten the youths of today and prepare them for the challenges of tomorrow. Ensuring that one completes basic education is a must, and all students should be encouraged to continue on into post-secondary and tertiary education, which develops critical thinking capabilities and opens doors to better future prospects.

While that point is good news for the country, there are issues mentioned in the report which require urgent action.

The report said that Malta “continues to face structural challenges that limit the equity, quality and labour market alignment of education and training. Learning outcomes remain among the weakest in the EU, with one third of 15 year-olds underachieving in basic skills posing a risk to competitiveness.” It also notes that persistent shortages of qualified teachers, especially in STEM, further constrain progress.

The report notes that students’ socio-economic background continues to strongly shape learning outcomes. “Among those in the lowest socio-economic quartile, nearly half underachieve in mathematics (47.7%) and over half in reading (51.5%).” It also notes that “advantaged students face challenges: 17.2% underperform in mathematics, compared to an EU average of 10.9%,” among other things.

But the document notes that there is an action plan, and also a strategy called the national education strategy 2024-2030. The action plan the report mentions “provides for investment in early years reading programmes, curriculum transformation and increased support for students at risk.”  The strategy “aims to reform curriculum content, promote equity and inclusion, and revise assessment methods. It also introduces a mathematical literacy strategy and measures to strengthen foundational reading skills, especially in the early years. While the strategic direction is sound, practical implementation is still evolving.”

The importance of ensuring a successful implementation of this strategy cannot be stated enough. Malta has the benefit of being a small country, which means that there can be more of a focus on improving educational outcomes, modifying strategies and plans where needed, and implementing more efficient, targeted solutions to challenges which some students may be facing. Ensuring that fewer students underachieve must be a priority, and providing more support to those students who may be struggling should be something that the educational authorities look into doing.

As for STEM subjects, the report notes that Malta faces persistent shortages of STEM specialists, despite policy efforts to boost participation. It reads that in 2023, only 13.9% of tertiary students were enrolled in STEM, down from 21.5% in 2015, “while STEM graduates accounted for 23.7% of all graduates, below the EU average of 25.2%.” But it said that labour market data confirms growing unmet demand, over 1,700 vacancies were registered in professional, scientific, and technical occupations at the end of 2023.

A focus on improving student interest in pursuing careers with such subjects would result in a better take-up of the job vacancies in those areas. Having more people working in the field of science and technology would, aside from being high-quality jobs, help the country succeed as a whole.

The government issued a statement reacting to the report. The Ministry for Education’s published statement noted the positives mentioned in the report, for instance Malta's positive female participation rates in life sciences, mathematics, and statistics, and that overall VET graduates had an employment rate of 88.6%. While it mentions that the report highlighted areas that require continued action, such as the rate of students in STEM which remains low, it fails to indicate just how major some of the issues in the report are. As an example, the government statement doesn’t mention that one third of 15 year-olds are underachieving in basic skills merits, which is quite a major problem. It needs to be upfront about such major issues, and should explain in detail its plans to tackle them.