Education in Malta
Education in Malta is compulsory through age sixteen and is offered through three different providers: the state, the church, and the private sector.
The objectives of education in Malta include intellectual and moral development and the preparation of every citizen to contribute productively to the national economy.
Education in Malta has been universally available at the primary level since the ejection of the Knights Hospitaller by the French in 1798, when state-funded elementary schooling was established.
In 1878, English replaced Italian as the primary language of instruction, and education was made compulsory in 1946 in response to a number of children not attending school due to poverty between World Wars One and Two.
While education in Malta dates back to the period of Arab rule between 870 and 1090 through the introduction of Arabic numerals, the arrival of the Franciscans in 1350, the Carmelites in 1418, the Dominican Order in 1450, the Augustinians in 1460 and the Friars Minor in 1492 brought religious-based education to the island.
Members of these groups were asked to serve as private tutors for the children of wealthy parents, and later moved to set up classes for instruction in Italian, Latin and numeracy.
In 1592, the Collegium Melitense (what was to become the University of Malta) was established by the Society of Jesus as a result of a direct order from Pope Clements VIII, and around this institution a number of others flourished, including a grammar school, a preparatory school and institutions for the study of cartography, naval architecture and navigation.
In addition to public options, it was possible to hire private tutors in a number of different areas, including accounting, philosophy, navigation and languages.
[1] During the 16th century, philosophy, theology, grammar and the humanities were taught at the Collegium, and following Europe's temporary recovery from the Black Death in 1675, the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller appointed a new lecturer in anatomy and surgery at Sacra Infermeria, essentially establishing the University of Malta's medical school.
[2] The Roman Catholic Church, however, was against educating the lower classes and focused on those who afforded to pay.
This resulted in mass illiteracy by the end of the Order of St John and took until the second half of the 19th century, under British rule, to have a sprint towards further inclusion.
The gradual introduction of universal education for primary school students was an ideal born before and during the French Revolution, while private schools were abolished due to their traditional association with the Catholic Church, an institution rejected by those involved in the Revolution.
[6][7] Focus on religious teaching, at the exclusion of important matters, left over 97% of the country illiterate.
The role of Canon Fortunato Panzavecchia as Director of Schools proved him to be unworthy and stubborn of progress.
The British observed that the Director was more interested in the failure of educating the common people and was unfit for purpose.
[1] During World War I, the interwar years and World War II, widespread poverty in Malta prevented the children of the lower classes from pursuing basic education in favor of staying home to assist parents with agricultural work and other income earning activities.
Despite the fact that eleven-plus examinations highlight inequality and failures, and are recognized as ineffective educational tools by experts,[18][19][20] Malta still implements such exams.
While 73 per cent of eleven-year-old students sat the eleven-plus exam in 2001, only about 54 percent pass it each year.
This is similar to the operation of the Tripartite System in the United Kingdom following World War II.
Following the two-year introductory cycle, a three-year specialist stage occurs during which students study a common core curriculum as well as a number of elective subjects.
Malta's Ministry of Education is currently being decentralised with the aim of having schools managed at the local level.
University students seeking to enter the teaching profession may also become qualified by gaining a postgraduate certificate in education.
