University Professor Carmel Borg argues that while education is widely seen as a pathway to better opportunities, research shows it can also reinforce existing social inequalities. Poor accessibility and inconsistent quality prevent education from fulfilling its potential as a tool for equality and instead risk reproducing social disadvantage.

Speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday, Borg said that once access depends on a family's financial, social or cultural capital, education is no longer genuinely universal. With regards to early childhood education, although kindergarten is universally available, childcare for children aged 0-3 is not fully accessible because free provision depends on parents being in employment, while other families must pay. Borg argued that Malta's education model operates more as a "charitable model" than a rights-based system because support depends on the availability of resources rather than being guaranteed.

"Education can liberate as much as it can domesticate," Borg said.

Some children miss school or receive an inferior education when Learning Support Educators (LSEs) are unavailable, showing that inclusion is inconsistent. Borg said many LSEs are underpaid, overworked and insufficiently trained to meet the specialised needs of children with disabilities or learning difficulties. Some migrant children are also excluded from education; administrative and documentation issues affecting parents prevent some children from accessing schooling.

Despite international commitment to children's rights, Borg said Malta is not ensuring 100% educational accessibility. He stressed that opening school doors is insufficient; every child should have access to quality education, echoing the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4. According to Borg, children's educational experiences vary significantly depending on where they live and which services they access.

Borg said the rapid expansion of childcare centres prioritised economic goals over social justice and quality, leading to staffing shortages, inconsistent standards and inadequate training. He argued that increasing childcare provision was primarily intended to support workforce participation rather than children's development.

Education is not a guaranteed "great equaliser", Borg argued. This is because completing education does not automatically lead to upward social mobility. Borg said graduates' life chances are also shaped by their social, cultural and economic capital, including family background and professional networks.

According to Borg, students from different social backgrounds tend to enrol in different university faculties and degree programmes. He argued that high-status faculties are generally populated by students who already possess greater social, cultural, and economic advantages. He said policymakers should look beyond graduation numbers and examine what degrees students earn, where they study, and which institutions they attend. He argued that where students study overseas and the prestige of those institutions can significantly influence future opportunities. As higher education has become more common, social distinction increasingly depends on the prestige of universities, faculties and qualifications rather than simply holding a degree.

Borg said Malta's above-average university participation should not obscure persistent inequalities elsewhere in the education system. He said simply providing access to education is insufficient if many students still fail to achieve basic educational standards. According to Borg, a focus on equal opportunities can unfairly individualise failure instead of examining shortcomings within the education system. He argued that every student who fails should prompt reflection on how the system can better support learners, rather than blaming individuals.

Compulsory education is the real concern. Borg said attention should focus on what happens before tertiary education, particularly on outcomes during compulsory schooling. One-third of students leave compulsory education without basic skills. Borg described this as one of the education system's greatest failures, arguing that no child should complete 11 years of compulsory schooling without fundamental literacy and numeracy skills. He stressed that the concern is not whether every student becomes a professional, but whether all children acquire essential life skills.

Borg said students who leave school without basic skills often suffer lasting psychological damage, losing confidence after internalising the belief that they have failed. While welcoming Malta's improved tertiary education rates compared with the EU average, Borg said policymakers must also confront poor outcomes in compulsory education.

"It's not enough to open doors. It's important to open the doors and provide quality education for all," Borg said.

Borg argued that millions spent on educational technology have not addressed the system's fundamental problems or significantly improved learning outcomes. He said technology cannot replace the importance of human relationships between teachers and students. Borg believes investment should focus first on improving provision for young children and those with disabilities or learning difficulties. According to Borg, research shows digital tools have failed to produce the expected shift in pedagogy, with classrooms still largely centred on transmitting content rather than encouraging active learning.

Although formal streaming has been abolished, Borg argued it continues in practice through other forms of grouping and labelling. He said categorising children persuades them they have a problem and shifts responsibility onto individuals rather than prompting reform of the education system.

Borg said the education system is failing all students, not only disadvantaged ones. While vulnerable children are denied equal opportunities, he argued that even high-achieving students are being let down by an outdated curriculum. He said research shows a growing mismatch between what students are taught in Malta and the knowledge and skills needed in the 21st century. He argued that students can appear successful within the current system while still being inadequately prepared for future challenges. Borg said Malta needs to redefine success in education based on the demands of today's world rather than traditional academic measures.

"We are not only short-changing the disadvantaged, but also we are short-changing those who think they are successful in our education system," Borg said.

Borg urged policymakers to reflect on the purpose of education and the kind of society Malta wants to build. He said Malta already has sufficient evidence to identify weaknesses but has failed to act on it. Borg said he has been urging politicians for years to organise a comprehensive national reflection on the future of education. He argued that without reform, large numbers of students will continue to be failed by the education system.

Turning again to the topic of early childhood education, Borg said that neuroscience research indicates that the first three years of life are a period of rapid brain development, which can have a major impact on a person's lifelong educational trajectory. Borg challenged the idea that all children enter kindergarten with equal opportunities, saying research shows disadvantaged children often arrive already behind. He said children from families with limited linguistic interaction may already have significantly smaller vocabularies by the time they reach kindergarten.

Borg argued childcare centres should not simply provide supervision, but act as spaces where social inequalities are addressed from an early age. He said early childhood services should work with families to tackle disadvantages, rather than focusing only on the child. Borg warned that expanding childcare places is not enough unless services are designed to promote children's development and equality. He argued that schools cannot "square the circle" of social injustice on their own and that poverty and inequality outside schools must also be addressed.

"The idea that we all start from the same line in terms of educational achievement is a complete fallacy," Borg said.

'The Poverty Observatory Bulletin' is a publication by the University of Malta Promise Research Cluster within the Faculty for Social Wellbeing. It aims to strengthen evidence-based dialogue on poverty, social exclusion, and child welfare in Malta