As of when I write this, the results obtained by Malta in the PISA report published by the OECD has hardly fired any controversies here - at least compared to what happened in other European countries, including the larger ones. There, polemics flared even before the whole report was published. Many were shocked by how in the sciences and in mathematics, students' performance had declined.

When the PISA results are placed alongside other conclusions reached by educational research - like, for instance, regarding the ability of students to read a written text to its end - concern can only grow. Everything seems to indicate that a fundamental shift has occurred in how students understand the value of the studies they undertake and of how they need to follow them. Advances in information technology mostly account for this. The problem is that there exists no certainty as to why the shift is being so negative. Obviously, among others,  teaching methods will have to change. But as to how this should or can be done,  there has been minimal guidance.

And I had imagined that in Malta, a debate about these really important issues would really heat up because of the PISA report...

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PROPOSALS

In the document it published pre the  government budget for 2027, the Chamber of Commerce came out with a good number of excellent comments and proposals. Their document should be given serious attention. Criticising much of the analysis it carries about the economic realities of this country today would be difficult. The strategic choices facing Malta's economic management at times when deep changes are proceeding in the world economy are well framed.

However the document suffers from a major defect. It has little to say about how the Maltese private sector must, as well, step up its operating systems. Many of the comments regarding the public administration apply equally well to the Maltese private sector, which in the main, still prefers to opt for mercantile solutions with a short term payback. The reference by the Chamber of Commerce to how the "foreign" private sector enjoys preferential rates of tax is unconvincing as an explanation for this.

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ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has floated the idea of Canada becoming an associate member of the EU. Actually such a status does not exist although in a very distant past, Malta would claim that its association agreement with the EU (which at the time had another name) made it an associate member.

Recently, Germany has suggested the creation of a new system by which the Ukraine (and others) could attend... and even participate in the deliberations of Union institutions (Council, Commission...) but without any voting rights. One would imagine that such an arrangement too could be called a status of associated membership. Whether it would be viable, especially if it is created  for the Ukraine and Canada in particular, is another matter.

Indeed, beyond what they are to be called, it is important for the relations between the EU and third parties to be designed according to solid premises that make sense for both sides and that do not trigger justified concerns among other state actors.